An investigation that began as a routine police search for a 23-year-old man quickly uncovered a shocking scene of systemic neglect and abuse at an unlicensed board-and-care facility in San Bernardino. When authorities arrived at the property to locate Trevor Castro, they were instead confronted with a horrific living environment that led to the immediate arrest of the home’s owner, 61-year-old Pensri Sophar Dalton. Dalton, known to residents as “Mama Sophar,” now faces 16 felony counts of elder abuse as investigators unravel the full scope of her operations.
The conditions discovered inside the facility were described by officials as outright squalor. Before even stepping foot inside the main structure, responding officers encountered a bucket of human urine left outside the front door. The interior of the property revealed a heavily fortified, prison-like compound. The entire home was surrounded by high cinderblock walls topped with barbed wire. Far from providing a safe, therapeutic environment for the 22 elderly and mentally ill residents living there, the facility appeared designed to trap and isolate its vulnerable occupants.
Most alarming to investigators was the discovery that several residents were being housed in converted chicken coops. These makeshift structures lacked basic amenities, including indoor plumbing, forcing residents to use a single bucket as a toilet. San Bernardino City Attorney James Penman noted that none of the residential structures on the property came close to meeting basic building or safety codes. Furthermore, several of the modified rooms featured heavy padlocks affixed to the outside of the doors with absolutely no emergency exits available from the inside. Penman expressed grave concern over this setup, noting that the locks were clearly capable of trapping residents inside a dangerous, unventilated space. The physical neglect was compounded by an overwhelming, pervasive odor of urine that permeated the entire property.
California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog
