Healthcare Compliance Perspective:
A reasonable suspicion of a crime must be timely reported to proper authorities for investigation. A skilled nursing facility is best protected when performing background checks on residents for possible criminal records or classification as sexual predators.
Last December, a 71-year-old male resident from a Pennsylvania nursing home was arrested and then indicted by a county grand jury on two counts of raping another resident-a 95-year-old female resident in the nursing home. The prosecutors out of concern that the man might be placed in another nursing home worked to prevent that from occurring. Consequently, the man had been held in the county jail since his arrest on the $100,000 bail set by the Common Pleas judge at his arraignment.
In March, the man who has limited mental capacity was “declared incompetent to stand trial and deemed not recoverable to sanity for the future.” A county judge then ruled that there was sufficient evidence to indicate that the man had raped the female resident which constitutes a criminal offense and ordered the man committed to a facility for mentally ill adults. According to the Assistant County Prosecutor, the court will review the status of the man every two years.
The prosecutor in the case felt that the justice system does not have a way to address this kind of situation because the man could not read or write but understood that he did not have to talk with the officers. He did admit to the sexual act although he felt that the woman, who was reported to be 95-years-old, had health problems and not able to talk or give consent, could talk.
The defense attorney for the man argued unsuccessfully that a “less restrictive option’ would have been more appropriate.
The man had been placed in the nursing home by a court that determined he was not able to take care of himself. Along with his cognitive problems, the man had a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
The woman died a few weeks after the incident. Her daughters, who were present in the court, said that they believed she was adversely affected by the rape and they were adamant in their desire to make sure that the man was placed in a facility where he could not hurt anyone else.
