LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Kamala Harris today announced that Valley Springs Manor owner Herminigilda Noveda Manuel and administrator Edgar Babael were charged on fourteen felony counts of elder abuse for abandoning the residents of their facility.

Manuel and Babael operated Valley Springs Manor, a residential care facility for the elderly that was ordered closed in October 2013 after the Department of Social Services found multiple licensing violations. After the closure, paramedics arrived at the facility and found fourteen residents had been abandoned by the operators with no personnel to tend to their activities of daily living and medical needs. Both defendants are charged with fourteen felony counts and could face up to 17 years in state prison and a fine of up to $6,000 per count.

This case arose from a joint investigation by the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (BMFEA) and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Since taking office in 2011, Attorney General Harris has created specialized BMFEA teams in Sacramento and Los Angeles composed of legal and nursing professionals to combat abuse, neglect and poor quality of care in California’s nursing homes.

A copy of the complaint submitted to the court is attached to the online version of this release at www.oag.ca.gov/news.