PRESS RELEASE: State hospital employee arrested for fondling resident

Below is a press release from the State Attorney General’s Office.

JACKSON, Miss. (PRESS RELEASE) – A former employee of East Mississippi State hospital surrendered to authorities Friday morning after being indicted for fondling a vulnerable person at the facility, announced Attorney General Jim Hood.

Kenneth Tanksley, 27, of Meridian, was indicted by a Lauderdale County grand jury on one felony count of fondling of a vulnerable person by an employee of a health care facility.

If convicted, Tanksley faces up to 15 years in prison and $5,000 in fines. A charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case was investigated by Trey Rogers with the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and will be prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Kathy Parker.