Central Texas woman accused of stealing drugs from elderly patient to satisfy her own addiction – KWTX

CLIFTON, Texas (KWTX) – Ashley Kay Bidwell, 43, of Whitney, Texas, and an employee of Clifton Lutheran Sunset Ministries, is accused of stealing drugs from an elderly patient to satisfy her own addiction, the Clifton Police Department said.
Bidwell is charged with injury to the elderly with intentional serious bodily injury and diversion of a controlled substance by registrants. She was jailed on a $150,000 bond at the Bosque County detention center.
The Clifton Police Department was contacted by Clifton Lutheran Sunset Ministries (CLSM ) in regards to an employee that had possibly stolen drugs from a patient in their facility.
Police said an investigation revealed Bidwell used her position with CLSM to “take medication away from the elderly patient when he was in dire need of it” in order to satisfy her own addiction. The employee has since been terminated by CLSM.
“As far as we can tell, (CLSM) did their part in doing a background check on this individual per state law. It just so happens a bad apple made it through,” Clifton Police said.
“It is very unfortunate that this person put the stellar reputation of the CLSM and the safety of this patient in jeopardy. I would also like to stress that it appears that this was an isolated incident and that no other residents were in harm or in danger from this incident,” police said.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
“This is a very serious matter, and when it was brought to our attention, we immediately reported it to the police and appropriate state agencies and suspended the employee pending further investigation,” Clifton Lutheran Sunset Ministries said in a Facebook post. “The safety, security and wellbeing of our residents and staff is our top priority, and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement and state agencies as they investigate this matter.”
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