It’s the dramatic video viewed by more than one million people.
Ena Farley, then 84, was confronted by Sheriff’s Deputies from the Monroe County, New York Sheriff’s Department and local police. Her son, Jonathan, could be heard in the background.
She was forced to leave her home, screaming, “don’t make me go…you’re hurting my arm…I don’t want to go.”
The police did not arrest Ena for a crime. Furthermore, the police provided no warrant, court order, or anything else that would justify their action.
It was the second time in less than a week that police showed up and took her. The police report from the first incident from January 31, 2023, was mostly a CYA.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to an email for comment.
Jonathan told me he found his mother on February 5 after she was taken the first time on January 31, 2023. They returned home and shortly after their return the police arrived.
Ten days after Ms. Farley was taken- on February 15, 2023- her son, Chris J. Farley, initiated guardianship proceedings.
She wasn’t in guardianship; she wasn’t under arrest, so there was no reason to take her from her home on February 5, 2023.
Chris J. Farley- not to be confused with the late comedian- is a well-respected journalist and writer who is married to Sharon Epperson of CNBC.
Chris J. Farley did not respond to an email for comment, and neither did two other Farley brothers- Anthony and Felipe.
I also sent an email to Chris J. Farley’s attorney, Miles Zatkowsky, but he did not respond.
I sent an email to Angelo Rose, the court appointed evaluator, but Rose did not respond.
After guardianship proceedings commenced, Chris J. Farley was made temporary guardian. Jonathan told me that he put their mother in a home and isolated her. There was a list which Jonathan wasn’t on, and only those on the list could see Ena.
Tony Harkin and his mom have been friends with the Farley family most of his life. He said he and his mom were turned away when they attempted to visit Ena.
My 78 year-old mother and I knew Ena Farley for more than 40 years, since I was a kid. Yes, we went to visit her in Cranberry Landing and they turned us away because we weren't on some approved visitor list. We never saw the list of approved visitors though. It all seemed very strange to us that Cranberry Landing would not allow Ena's lifelong friends to visit her. It felt to my mom and I like she was being held in prison or something like that. And we never received an explanation of why we could not visit her.
The guardianship case was presided over by Judge Chris Ciaccio. The proceedings took on a star chamber effect. I spoke with MaryDel Wypych, of the Elder Justice Committee. Ms. Wypych attended a hearing. She said that Judge Ciaccio asked all observers their names, and then kicked all those who weren’t parties to the proceedings out of his courtroom under the guise that they may be witnesses and would be tainted by being in the audience.
Ms. Wypych told me she’d never met Ena and was there only to offer support.
Bryan Oathout, who did not respond to an email for comment, was appointed by Judge Ciaccio to be Ena’s attorney. Jonathan told me that Oathout advised Ena not to attend her trial which determined if she’d be found incapacitated.
As such, she never testified on her own behalf.
Jonathan told me he was sanctioned for $13,000 for asking for his mother’s financial records; the judge, Jonathan told me, found it a frivolous request.
Jonathan told me that prior to these events he was living with his mother; he conducted the interview from the home they shared. His brothers, on the other hand, communicated with his mother sporadically.
As such, Judge Ciaccio’s choice to first make Chris J. and then Felipe her guardian should raise eyebrows.
It was several months, in late 2023, before Jonathan was allowed to see his mother, and that was only for a short time.
He saw her one last time in 2024. By then, Jonathan told me, she was suffering from many ailments which he later learned were likely connected to drugs prescribed to her after she was placed into guardianship.
Ena Farley died on August 4, 2024. Jonathan believes that the combination of isolation and drugging contributed to her early death.
Jonathan also told me that he has discovered discrepancies in her finances after she was placed into guardianship which suggests that theft was occurring. Below is part of a declaration which he submitted.
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