Florence Township man charged with neglect of disabled woman
A Florence Township man is in the Burlington County Jail on charges he neglected the care of a disabled woman he was living with after she was found malnourished and suffering from severe bedsores, police said.
The woman, who is in critical condition, was carried out of their Cedar Lane apartment Wednesday on a stretcher, police said.
Harold W. Reed Jr., 55, a registered sex offender, has been in custody since his arrest Wednesday, when bail was set at $15,000.
Police said Reed called them to inquire what to do about the woman's failing condition and they decided to investigate. The woman, who has not been identified, remains at Lourdes Medical Center in Willingboro, police said.
She was found "in urgent need of medical attention and signs of neglect, to include malnourishment, unsanitary conditions, and open wounds," a police news release said.
The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office is assisting with the investigation. Neglect is a third-degree crime that can entail prison time.
Reed was convicted in 1998 of endangering the welfare of a child, a sex crime that involved a girl under age 13, according to the New Jersey State Police Sex Offender Registry. The crime occurred in Burlington County. No other details were available about that case.
Contact Jan Hefler at 856-779-3224, jhefler@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @JanHefler. Read her blog, "Burlco Buzz," at www.philly.com/BurlcoBuzz.
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