Jackson, MS—A Columbus resident will go to prison after being convicted of felony abuse of a vulnerable person, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.

Sherrill Culpepper, age 53, appeared before Judge Lee S. Coleman in Lowndes County Circuit Court today to face a charge of Felonious Abuse of a Vulnerable Person (Miss. Code Ann. 43-47-19(3)).  Culpepper admitted that, while working as an LPN, she willfully inflicted physical pain or injury upon a vulnerable person left in her care by heating a flat iron and then putting it in contact with the vulnerable person’s skin.  As a result, Judge Coleman sentenced her to 10 years behind bars, 10 years to serve with five years post release supervision and a $5,000 fine.  Culpepper was immediately taken into custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

?This case should not serve as a reflection of the majority of our caregivers, but it should serve as a reminder that there are consequences for anyone acting outside of the law,? said Attorney General Hood. 

The case was investigated by Eddie Boyd and Joe Sanderson and prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Pat McNamara of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General’s Office.