Maryland man faces criminal charges for abuse of disabled girlfriend

From The News-Post in Frederick, Md.:

A Frederick man faces criminal charges for knocking his wheelchair-bound girlfriend to the ground and not caring for her medical needs, causing her to be hospitalized for dehydration and a urinary tract infection, according to Frederick County District Court charging documents.

Gary William Cosner, 46, faces charges of second-degree assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult for the mistreatment of Tammy Wilhelm, 46, in the apartment they shared in the 1000 block of Heather Ridge Drive, documents state.

The case, one of many domestic violence matters called Thursday before District Judge Oliver John Cejka Jr., was postponed. No new trial date has been set.

Frederick Police Department Officer First Class Jeffrey Putman investigated the case, brought to his attention May 5 after Wilhelm was admitted as a patient at Northhampton Manor Nursing Home.

Brandi Staub, a social worker, approached Putman to report staff members found bruises on Wilhelm’s left breast and lower back, according to court documents.

The disabled woman revealed that Cosner, her boyfriend of 12 years, had pushed her to the ground during an argument April 21.

“He put his hands on me. Slapped me,” Wilhelm told Putman, he wrote in charging documents. “Main thing is as time went on (he) became more abusive.”

Wilhelm also alleged that Cosner, as her caregiver, was supposed to address her physical and medical needs.

Because he did not, she ended up in the hospital, dehydrated and suffering from a urinary tract infection.

Putman wrote that Wilhelm choked up when he asked her about the bruises to her body. She told him she didn’t report it at first because she didn’t want to get him in trouble.

A couple of weeks later, she acknowledged that her 300-pound boyfriend had pushed her to the ground.

“She felt safe reporting it at the nursing home,” Putman wrote. Cosner could not be reached for comment. A recording reported his phone number listed in court records had been disconnected and he moved out of the couple’s apartment.

If convicted, second-degree assault is punishable by 10 years in prison and a $2,500 fine; abuse of a vulnerable adult carries as much as five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.