DSN workers face charge

Two workers at a group home operated by the Cherokee County Disabilities and Special Needs Board have been charged by the Gaffney Police Department with violating the Vulnerable Adult Protection Act.

According to a police report, two residents of the J. Claude Fort Home in Gaffney were engaged in some type of dispute Dec. 26, 2007, when two group home workers intervened to break them apart. Police claim the group home workers used too much force, however, resulting in one of the residents, a 37-year-old man, sustaining injuries including a bloodied nose.

A warrant for Tara Dee Smarr, 38, of Gaffney was served on her Monday after she voluntarily came to police headquarters, according to Det. Lt. David Clary. A warrant for the second worker, a 20-year-old Gaffney woman, had not yet been served as of Tuesday afternoon.

Both women are being charged with the same offense, police said, which is a felony under state law.

"As soon as we were made aware of this allegation, we followed state law and referred the matter to (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division)," said Pearson Cooper, executive director of the Disabilities and Special Needs Board. "SLED, in turn, turned the case over to local law enforcement. We've been working with local authorities to provide any information they needed."

Cooper said both women had been placed on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.