Background: The structure on the 5300 block of South Rock Ridge Road in Memphis, Tennessee, where the alleged assault occurred (Google Maps). Inset: Monoteus Brown (Shelby County Sheriff”s Office).
An employee at a mental health service in Tennessee is accused of throwing “boiling” water on the back of one of his patients, authorities in Memphis say.
Monoteus Brown, 33, has been charged with aggravated assault and aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, Shelby County court records show. The alleged violence occurred on Sept. 17 at a home “for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
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A patient at the home run by Support Solutions of the Mid-South told his program manager that Brown “threw boiling water on his back,” according to an affidavit of complaint obtained by Law&Crime. When the supervisor checked the alleged victim, they noticed “severe burns” on his back.
The patient was transported to a hospital and treated for burns to his back, the Memphis Police Department said in the affidavit, adding that the patient spent about a week there. Police arrived to the home on the 5300 block of South Rock Ridge Road in Memphis on Sept. 17 and began investigating.
About a week after they arrived, officers were able to speak with the alleged victim, as well as the program manager. The patient reportedly told them that in addition to throwing the hot water on him, Brown had previously “punched, kicked, and pointed a gun at him.”
The patient “has been diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder, Schizoaffective Disorder, and Explosive Disorder,” the complaint states.
When police asked him if he could identify his attacker in a six-person photographic lineup, the patient is said to have “positively identified” Brown “as the person that threw hot water on him.” The patient then showed the investigating sergeant his wounds. According to the officer, “The burns covered his upper back and appeared to be significant in nature.”
Brown was booked into the Shelby County Jail on Monday, jail records state. He was scheduled for a video arraignment on Tuesday and has a bail review hearing on Wednesday.
