An 89-year-old New Jersey man was arrested after a maid found his wife tied to a chair in a guest room at the Brownwood Hotel & Spa in The Villages.
The member of the housekeeping staff found the woman tied to a chair Thursday afternoon, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. The woman, who was alone in room, was “extremely disheveled and confused.” A white belt had been used to secure her left arm to the chair. White trash bags had been used to tie each of her feet to the chair.
In addition to law enforcement, The Villages Public Safety Department was summoned to the scene. The EMS personnel found the woman “could not answer general questions, due to her severe memory loss,” the report said.
Video surveillance captured at the hotel, showed the woman’s husband, Christopher Sessa of Manchester, N.J. “roaming” around the hotel at about 11 a.m. that morning.
When police interviewed Sessa, he complained that someone on the hotel staff had “dimed him out” by contacting law enforcement. He said he and his wife have been married for 60 years. He also said he was “trying to do the best he could so she wouldn’t be able to hurt herself by falling, but knew it wasn’t the right choice by restraining her,” the report said.
Sessa, who splits his time between New Jersey and Boca Raton, was arrested on charges of false imprisonment and elder abuse. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $1,000 bond.
