Moorcroft man sentenced for abuse of a vulnerable adult

Moorcroft resident Harold Stortz has been sentenced on two counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult after allegedly leaving an elderly person on the floor after a fall for approximately six hours.

On September 4, 2020, an officer from Moorcroft Police Department was dispatched around 7 a.m. to a report of an elderly person who had fallen. He arrived to find the person, who he knew from previous contacts, “laying on the living room floor with only a thin long sleeve shirt on”.

Stortz was allegedly sitting in the kitchen looking at the elderly person and said the fall was recent. The elderly person appeared to be in pain and cold.

Moorcroft EMS arrived to assist the elderly person and the officer asked Stortz what happened. Stortz allegedly stated they had fallen around 1 a.m. and he had tried to get them up but was unable to do so due to being physically disabled himself.

According to the officer’s report, he then stated he had wanted to teach the elderly person a lesson and make them “stronger and more independent”, so had left them on the ground to fend for themselves. Stortz did not call 911 until approximately six hours after he claimed they had fallen.

EMS members raised concerns for the elderly person’s wellbeing. The officer again spoke with Stortz about his relationship with them and was told the two were good friends.

The officer was contacted a second time at 9:45 a.m. by Crook County Dispatch. The elderly person had fallen again.

The officer arrived on scene and entered the residence to see Stortz in the same chair in the kitchen as before. The elderly person was located on the floor in a bedroom.

The elderly person allegedly told the officer that Stortz had told them to get his phone cord from the bedroom and they had lost their balance and fallen. When EMS arrived, the officer was informed that the elderly person had a large knot on their forehead.

Stortz was originally charged with felony counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult and neglect or abandonment of a vulnerable adult. The case was remanded to Circuit Court, where he was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of intentional abuse of a vulnerable adult.

Stortz was sentenced to one year in jail, with six months of that sentence suspended pending successful completion of 18 months of unsupervised probation. Judge Matthew Castano also gave Stortz a total of $500 in fines, with an additional $1120 owed in costs and fees.