Two women who worked for ARC, an agency that advocates for the mentally challenged, are accused of abusing a mentally-challenged client by making her drink urine and eat feces.

According to the Wyoming County District Attorney, the acts the two women committed against the mentally-challenged woman were beyond belief. They urinated in a bottle and told the woman it was lemonade, put bugs in the the woman's sandwich and made tea out of toilet water.

Kimberly Holzlein, 27, and Jill Hillard, 31, both of Tunkhannock are charged with abusing a mentally-challenged woman in the her 40s, at an ARC facility last fall.

Investigators said Holzlein was upset with the patient and got back at her by doing these things, even going as far as putting pieces of her own feces in the patient's pudding and telling the woman they were special Tootsie Rolls.

Hillard is accused of urinating in a water bottle and telling the woman it was lemonade. According to court papers, Holzlein admitted to the crimes and was remorseful when interviewed by detectives. Hillard denies the charges.

"She's saying she wasn't involved in this, doesn't know who was or if it occurred. That's going to be a burden the commonwealth has to establish, that something happened and that she did it and she's denied it up to this point and time," said Hillard's attoenry Paul Ackourey.

"This is the first time in 20 years that we've had anything like this in our county," said Wyoming County District Attorney George Skumanick. "Reading the affidavit of probably cause is truly troubling but that's what led us to today and the arrest that we made."

The two women have been fired from ARC and have both been released on $20,000 unsecured bail. Both face another court date May 15.

Officials at ARC's headquarters in Tunkhannock Township had no comment. The district attorney said more charges may be filed in this case.

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