South Carolina Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Poliakoff & Associates Law Firm : Elderly Care, Senior Care

The Philadelphia Daily News had a news report of a amn who was allowed to take a resident out of a nursing home and rape her.  Yeadon police have charged a Northeast Philadelphia man with raping a dying 70-year-old nursing-home patient with Alzheimer's disease and a brain tumor. Doctors say she may have had less than six months to live.

Timothy Patrick White, 46, waived his preliminary hearing yesterday and was held for trial on 15 counts of rape and related charges. White took the victim from the Manor Care Nursing Home to a Southwest Philadelphia bar for rum-and-cokes, then to Cobbs Creek Park, where they drank beer until 5:30 a.m. on July 22.  When he drove the woman back to the nursing home, staffers noticed that White was "not wearing a shirt and his pants were unbuttoned," according to the affidavit for his arrest. They also found bruises on the victim's mouth, neck and arms, and discovered that she was not wearing any underwear. White told workers he was "a friend of hers," then drove away, police said. It was unclear how White was able to leave the home with the woman.

How did he have access to the resident?  How did the nursing home not notice that she was missing for all those hours?  This is disgraceful on the part of the nursing home.

A DNA sample taken from White matched semen recovered from the victim's anal cavity, according to police.

 

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Deseret News had an article about the sentencing of a nursing home employee who molested an 85 year old resident where he was employed.  This is a tragic and preventable situation. Why didn't anyone supervise this CNA?  How could they have hired this guy?  Why did they allow him to plea to a lesser crime? How could they give him such a light sentence?

Jacob Mut Bolith was charged in July 2007 with first-degree felony rape, second-degree felony forcible sex abuse and class A misdemeanor lewdness. However, in a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to forcible sex abuse, a second-degree felony, and the other two charges were dropped.  He was only sentenced to serve a one-to-15-year sentence and ordered him to pay restitution.

"To do this to my mother ... is unconscionable," one daughter said. Her other daughter said a medical exam showed that the defendant did more than "what he admitted."

The article doesn't mention if the facility knew or should have known about their employee's tendencies or if they did a background check or if they recieved prior complaints about his behavior or if the State even investigated the nursing home.

 

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The Moultrie Observer reported a story about another nursing home employee who sexually assaulted a resident.  How can this happen if a criminal background check was done and RNs are properly supervising the staff?

Charles David Cone, 47, of 321 12th Ave. N.W. in Cairo, was charged with sodomy and sexual battery.   An employee at the Woodlands at Cobblestone on Cobblestone Trace reported Feb. 27 that Cone allegedly touched a 92-year-old male patient inappropriately. The patient stated there were two separate incidents, one on Feb. 25 and the other the next day.

According to a warrant for Cone’s arrest, he is accused of putting the patient’s penis in his mouth on Feb. 26. Cone allegedly fondled the patient’s genitals on Feb, 25,

Executive Director Joann Sloan said Cone was terminated from his job at Woodlands immediately after the alleged incident was reported.  “Our standard of practice and our goal is to provide a safe environment for our patients,” Sloan said.

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There is an article in an Ohio newspaper that discusses an alleged rape of a male resident at a nursing home.

After visiting her fiancé Saturday night at Concord Care and Rehabilitation Center, Linda Monegan knew something was wrong.  Unable to talk or see after suffering a stroke, her 55-year-old fiance nodded his head to signify he was in pain. He had been sexually assaulted by a nurse.

Concord Care night-shift nurse John R. Riems, 49, 100 block of W. Cedarwood, was arrested Monday on felony charges of rape and gross sexual imposition. During questioning Riems recalled abusing nearly 100 patients during his more than 20-year career.  Riems, who obtained his registered nursing license in 1985 through Providence Hospital's nursing school, has worked at several nursing homes.

Concord Care director Jessica Short refused to answer any questions. Instead, she handed over a four-sentence typed statement, closed her office door and called police. The statement indicated an employee accused of "inappropriately touching" a resident was fired.

After she told police about the incident, Monegan said she was ordered by a nurse not to return to Concord Care, and now fears for her beloved's life.

Many of Reims' victims were elderly or disabled and unable to report the abuse.

The family is calling for justice to be served not only on Riems, but the entire nursing staff, who they say are responsible for patient neglect.   Besides the sexual abuse, Monegan said her fiancé suffered from burns to his legs, dehydration, bed sores and an unkempt trachea tube while staying at Concord Care since October 2007.

"What if that was your family member?" Monegan said. "What if that was your loved one?"

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Here is a link to an article about a Nashville CNA arrested for raping a 70-year-old resident of a nursing home.  Police arrested 44-year-old Harvey Eugene Taylor for allegedly raping a woman in her room at Madison Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.

Police said the woman suffered from dementia. He was charged with aggravated rape.
In May, the 70-year-old woman told staff members that Taylor sexually assaulted her.

She was taken to the hospital. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation analyzed DNA recovered from her and it matched a sample from Taylor, who denies having any sexual contact with the patient.

Taylor has been a licensed nurse's aid since 2000.

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Kansas City, Missouri Police are investigating the alleged rape of an 80-year-old woman at a Northland nursing home.   While management vehemently denies anything happened, a medical examination shows otherwise. 

The 80-year-old woman was found naked from the waist down Wednesday afternoon.

According to the police report, the victim's daughter noticed bruising in her private area and asked if anyone touched her there. The victim replied, "Yes, it was hell."

Police said they have not had a chance to talk to the victim because the nursing home has given her sedatives.  They hope to speak with her soon.

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In Moundsville, W.V.a.,  Police said a mentally handicapped woman was sexually assaulted inside a Moundsville nursing home. The suspect is Roy Reed Sheldon, 22, who was placed into a cruiser and headed to jail after his arraignment Wednesday afternoon. 

He sexually assaulted a 57-year-old mentally handicapped woman who was a resident of Dora Allietta Memorial Home on Eighth Street.   Police got a call over the weekend from an employee after the victim said Sheldon raped her.

A blanket covers the sign at the nursing home -- and it turns out Sheldon is no stranger to the place. Police said he lives on the top floor and his wife manages the home. Sheldon's wife no longer works there.

Sheldon is facing sexual assault, sexual abuse, and indecent exposure charges. Police said he gave a confession, but denies having intercourse with the woman.

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Here is an article talking about another rape of a resident at a nursing home.  Where is the supervision? Where is the criminal background check? Wher eis the good ol fashioned judgment!?

Salt Lake Police arrested a worker at a nursing home today accused of raping an 85-year-old resident.  Jacob Bolith was arrested on suspicion of rape. The CNA is accused of raping a patient at St. Joseph's Villa nursing village July 1.

Police said Bolith has worked at various nursing facilities in the Salt Lake Valley over the past decade. Bolith told police that he faced similar accusations in the past, according to a probable cause statement released by the jail.

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This article is very disturbing.  I cannot believe that the nursing home did not recognize this obvious sociopath.

A Victorian nursing home employee accused of pinning down a 98-year-old dementia patient "like an animal" and raping her was just doing his job, according to his defense lawyer.   Henry Alexander, 35, of Mount Martha, is accused of sexually assaulting four women in their 80s and 90s at a nursing home on the Mornington Peninsula in November 2005.

"Mr. Alexander's care of these particular residents is based on the fact that what he did was reasonable ... and it was all to do with the proper hygienic care of residents who had become incontinent with feces and urine,'' Gipp said.

Alexander's former colleague, Anne Girvasi, who no longer works at the home, said on one occasion she saw him pin a 98-year-old woman to the bed with his legs and digitally penetrate her.

"She was pinned down like an animal,'' Girvasi said. "Henry Alexander is an animal and a rapist, okay? What he did was disgusting.''

She said she did not file an incident report about Alexander's conduct because six-month old reports would pile up in the nurses' station and no action was taken.   Friend and former colleague Janine Blythe said she tried to make an appointment with Susan Younger, the Director of Nursing, but Younger cancelled.

She said she then submitted an incident report to CEO Heila Brookes, which detailed Alexander's alleged "inappropriate and rough'' touching of an 87-year-old woman on Nov. 4, 2005.

"She just ripped it up - she said it wasn't done the way it should be.''

Blythe was fired from the nursing home for failing to immediately report the incident.

Here is the full article.

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I read an article this weekend about a resident who was physically and sexually assaulted by the groundskeeper for a nursing home facility.  The family of an Alzheimer's resident who was sexually assaulted by former Bedminster supervisor Robert Holland has sued him and the woman's nursing home for civil damages.

The late Helen Priester was 92 and in a wheelchair when Holland, a groundskeeper at Pine Run Community in Doylestown Township, was caught with her in her room.

“We want to collect fair compensation for the injuries and damages Helen Priester suffered, but we also want to make sure that this doesn't happen again,” said attorney Edward Shensky.

Holland, a Bedminster supervisor for 15 years, was sentenced in March to two to four years in prison for aggravated indecent assault, institutional sexual assault and related charges. Though he pleaded guilty, Holland maintained that Priester initiated the sexual contact and consented to the acts.

The suit says Holland was discovered May 5, 2006, by a Pine Run employee who noticed Priester's door was closed.   The employee opened the door and found Holland assaulting Priester. The worker yelled at Holland to stop and went to get security when he would not.

When they returned, the door was again shut and Holland was continuing the assault.
Holland, who used a service entrance to come into the nursing home, admitted to assaulting Priester for at least three years, the suit said.
Shensky said the nursing home should have done more to restrict access to vulnerable patients.

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There is a great discussion on abuse in nursing homes that I found here.

Nursing Home Abuse is on the rise even though less people are entering nursing homes with debilitating conditions according to recent data. The true number is probably much higher but The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates at least one in 20 nursing home patients has been the victim of abuse. There are nearly 1.4 million Americans that are living in nursing homes right now.

Unfortunately, a nursing home is not always the place of respite and healing it should be. According to the National Center’s study, 57% of nurses’ aides working in long-term care facilities admitted to witness, and even participating in, acts of nursing home abuse. The report sites systemic problems within the nursing home industry, like inadequate pay for workers and chronic understaffing, as contributing to the epidemic of abuse.

Neglect is the most common form of abuse. Residents in soiled beds and clothes, or those suffering from bedsores and frozen joints are most likely victims of neglect. Indications that a patient is over or under medicated can also signal neglect.

About 2500 cases of physical abuse or rape are reported each year.

Neglect is often caused by understaffing at nursing homes. However, this does not mean that neglect is more benign than other forms of abuse. In fact it can be deadly, as it was for an Alzheimer’s patient living at the Atrium I Nursing Home in Pennsylvania. The 88-year-old woman was allowed to wander away from the facility and died from exposure. The nursing home administrator was later charged and convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the patient’s death. 

Because this type of abuse can easily be covered up by staff, the true number is not really known. Elderly people can often be victims of falls, so sometimes, bruises, sprains or factures do not alarm a patient’s loved one. However, if these injuries cannot be fully explained, or if they are occurring frequently, further investigation is probably needed.

One of the most insidious forms of nursing home abuse is sexual abuse. According to a 1996 Medicaid Fraud Report, 10% of all physical abuse cases in nursing homes are of a sexual nature. Sexual predators will usually take advantage of disabled patients who are physically unable to tell anyone about their assaults. Often, this type of abuse is only discovered when a patient shows evidence of sexual contact, perhaps in the form of a sexually transmitted disease. In Illinois the repeated rape of a mentally disabled woman wasn’t discovered until she became pregnant. A nurses’ aid was charged and plead guilty to sexual assault in that case last month.

Because its victims are so helpless, nursing home abuse is one of the most underreported crimes in our nation Families of nursing home patients must become aware of the signs of abuse, and they must be willing to advocate for their loved one. Often, family members are the only people who can prevent a tragic outcome for a long-term care patient.

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 Police are investigating claims that a 91-year-old woman was raped at a nursing home.

The director of The Life Care Center says once they learned of the allegations on June 4, they immediately called the Department of Social and Health Services, Federal Way Police and the woman's guardian.

Police say the rape happened about a month ago.

The family of the woman has removed her from the facility. The alleged rapist has been placed on leave during the investigation.

I wonder if they did a criminal background check or if they asked the suspect to undergo a polgrapg examination.

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A former nursing aide who admitted raping and impregnating a profoundly disabled and defenseless woman at a Bloomingdale nursing home three years ago was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison.

Reynaldo Brucal Jr., 20, pleaded guilty in November to aggravated criminal sexual assault of the then-23-year-old woman, who has cerebral palsy, is brain-damaged and has the mental capacity of a 3-year-old. She was in his care at Alden Village Health Facility for Children and Young Adults when the attack occurred in 2004.

Brucal, who is not a U.S. citizen, has been in DuPage County Jail since his 2005 arrest. 
After serving his sentence, he will be deported to his native Philippines.

Staff at the nursing home, where the victim and her twin sister had lived for 13 years, discovered she was expecting in June 2005 when she was more than 28 weeks' pregnant. A baby girl was delivered by Caesarean section in July 2005.

The twins, who cannot speak or function independently, have been moved to another area nursing facility, and their family has filed a civil lawsuit against Alden that is pending.

The facility also has been fined $10,000 by the Illinois Department of Public Health for lack of oversight and mishandling of the investigation.

According to the probation department's pre-sentencing report, Brucal admitted assaulting the woman because he was "bored."

But Brucal, who began working at Alden in September 2004 and was 17 at the time of the attack, "didn't believe he did anything wrong," Berlin said.

Initially, Brucal denied sexual contact but was arrested in November 2005 after admitting such contact, claiming a latex glove he used as a condom had failed.

See article here

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The nursing home industry and insurance lobbyists have fought (and continue to fight) to limit the duties of nursing homes in conducting background checks on employees.  It is ridiculous. Background checks are cheap and quick in the computer age even with the high turnover rate of employees.  Look at this story where a nursing home aide raped 90-year-old resident.. It could have been prevented if they did a background check.

William Morrison, a former aide at the Rome Memorial Hospital Residential Health Care Facility,  was convicted last month of raping and sexually assaulting a 90-year-old resident of the nursing home.

Morrison was an employee at Rome Memorial Hospital for several months before being transferred to the hospital’s affiliated 80-bed nursing home. Rome Memorial Hospital Residential Health Care Facility intended to perform a criminal background check when Morrison was hired, but it was not completed before he raped the elderly resident.

The background check would have revealed that Morrison was previously convicted for one felony and several misdemeanors in the 1990s. His last conviction was for a misdemeanor drug offense in 1999

See story here

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