A former nursing assistant accused of abusing four elderly patients at a Franklin nursing home pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence Tuesday, a development the son of one of the victims called `` lousy.''

Bernadette Stackpole's victims included 106-year-old Clara Hemmingsen of Plainville, the only victim still alive.

Stackpole, 52, of Bellingham, pleaded guilty to five counts each of assault and battery and patient abuse in connection with incidents at the Franklin Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center that occurred over several months from February 2003 to May 2004. At the time, the victims ranged in age from 75 to 105.

Dedham Superior Court Judge Charles Grabau sentenced Stackpole to a suspended sentence with probation and barred her from working with the physically or mentally disabled.

During the abuse, Stackpole grabbed Hemmingsen by the ankles and lifted her legs over her head, folding the elderly woman in half, prosecutors said. Hemmingsen's son, Robert, said in an interview outside the court that the sentence was `` lousy.''

He said he supported a sentence sought by prosecutors: two years in the House of Correction with six months to serve and the balance suspended for five years on each count.

`` What would've happened if it was the judge's mother who had been molested?'' Hemmingsen said. `` Would he still have given a slap on the wrist? I don't think he would have.''

`` This sets a precedent if other people in her profession do this.''

Hemmingsen said Grabau refused to let his niece, Anna Foss, read a statement from the family.

Mrs. Hemmingsen still resides at the Franklin nursing home.

Stackpole was fired from the facility in May 2004. She had worked there since September 1989.

Stackpole struck, slapped, improperly touched or verbally abused four residents with dementia at the nursing home, prosecutors said.

Stackpole's attorney, Andre Summers of Franklin, declined comment after the sentencing.

Previously, Summers had said in court that Stackpole was `` extremely conscientious,'' and that the allegations against her arose out of animosity from others at the nursing home. The incidents happened one year before a law was enacted that specifically addresses assault and battery on an elder or person with a disability, and includes enhanced penalties for elder abuse by a caretaker.

Under the new law, Stackpole would have faced maximum sentences of three years in state prison and a $5,000 fine, and would have been liable for civil penalties of up to $20,000.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0372 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.