Glasgow Woman Charged with Felony Elder Abuse

Karla Nix, 57, was charged Jan. 18 in District Court with felony exploitation of an elder. According to Chief of Glasgow Police Bruce Barstad, the charging documents indicate the alleged offense involved both financial and physical abuse lasting over two years.

The documents also claim that Nix had moved in with the victim, a 93-year-old woman, at her apartment in Nemont Manor. According to GPD, Nix was serving as the victim’s personal care assistant at the Manor, but was not an employee of the home. Charging documents allege that Nix confined the woman to her room, forced her into bed and tighten the sheets around her, and that she caused her physical harm among other financial abuses. The abuse is said to have gone on from 2014 until this past month when the victim reported, during a hospital visit at Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital, that she did not feel safe at home.

According to Chief Barstad the hospital contacted the family, and the victim was moved elsewhere in the state. “It was after the move that the details of the abuse came out,” said Renee Jones, GPD’s crime victim advocate. An investigation subsequently led to charges being filed in District Court. Currently Nix is being held on a $5,000 bond at the Valley County Detention Center.