Attorney General Alan Wilson announces arrest of Columbia man for Neglect of Vulnerable Adults

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that his office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (SCMFCU) has arrested James Sampson Reese, Jr., 69 years old, of Columbia, S.C., on seven counts of Neglect of a Vulnerable Adult {43-35-0085 (D)}. Reese was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on February 16, 2023.

A joint investigation by the SCMFCU and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Bureau of Community Care revealed that between September 28, 2022, and December 9, 2022, Reese, while acting as a caregiver and administrator at Reese’s Community Care Home located at 1203 E. Muller Avenue in Columbia, failed to provide for the care, goods, or services necessary to maintain the health and safety of seven vulnerable adult residents. Investigators allege that Reese’s neglect towards these residents caused or presented a substantial risk of causing physical or mental injury to the victims/residents of his licensed community residential care facility.

This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office. 

Neglect of a Vulnerable Adult is a felony and, upon conviction, has a penalty of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. 

Pursuant to federal regulations, the SCMFCU has authority over Medicaid provider fraud; abuse and neglect of Medicaid beneficiaries in any setting; and the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals residing in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. 

Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

The SCMFCU receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,698,638 for federal fiscal year 2024. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $899,546 for FFY 2024, is funded by South Carolina.