A caregiver pleaded guilty to neglect and was sentenced to probation after leaving three disabled men in a van outside the mall.
Christopher W. McCoy, 25, Greenwood, was sentenced to a year and a half on probation after pleading guilty to three counts of neglect, according to court records.
McCoy was arrested in October 2015 after a shopper at Greenwood Park Mall spotted a van parked outside for about two hours in 40-degree weather with three disabled men inside.
While police checked on the vehicle, McCoy came out of the mall with shopping bags in hand, police said.
McCoy worked as a caregiver at the time and was responsible for caring for the three men, who could not communicate or care for themselves.
McCoy made a big mistake, his attorney James MacAbee said.
“He immediately felt terrible about it, and could not have been more remorseful. He wanted to take responsibility for it,” MacAbee said.
McCoy agreed to plead guilty to the three felony counts and could have faced up to two and a half years in prison. He also was ordered not to contact the three men from the case, according to court records.
McCoy was a caregiver for a Kentucky-based company called ResCare when he was arrested. He stayed with and cared for the three adult men at a group home in Franklin.
He told police at the time that he wanted to check out some sales at the mall, so he brought the three men with him and left them in the van. He told police he thought the men would be all right in the van alone, police had said.
When police found the men, they were not wearing coats, and two had wet diapers, police said.
