Inverness caregiver charged with abusing Alzheimer's patient

The attorney for a caregiver accused of abusing a 60-year-old Alzheimer's patient from Inverness says his client did nothing wrong.

Neighbors called police Saturday to report seeing 49-year-old Stefania Lisowska spray the unclothed woman down with a garden hose as she sat in a lawn chair in her backyard.

Lisowska was arrested and charged with aggravated battery to a senior citizen and criminal abuse of the elderly, her attorney, Ralph Meczyk, confirmed. She appeared in Cook County court Tuesday and was given a $200,000 bond by Judge Kay Hanlon.

Meczyk said his client remains jailed.

He said Lisowska was never violent toward the woman and that she took the woman outside because she needed to be cleaned up and the bathroom was "a complete mess."

Meczyk also said the woman's husband actually attached the garden hose, which Meczyk said was spraying warm water, and that the husband supports Lisowska. Meczyk said the woman has been cleaned and hosed down in a similar manner before.

The husband could not be reached for comment.

Lisowska was a live-in caregiver for the woman, who lives with her husband in Inverness.

"She was a dedicated caregiver to this family for over three years," Meczyk said.

The woman was taken Saturday to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital near Lake Barrington for cuts and bruises.

Lisowska's next scheduled court date is July 11.