57-Year-Old Former Resident Arrested and Charged for Sexually Assaulting a 75-Year-Old Bedridden Resident

57-Year-Old Former Resident Arrested and Charged for Sexually Assaulting a 75-Year-Old Bedridden Resident

Failure to protect residents from sexual assault may result in provision of substandard quality of care with the submission of a false claim for worthless services

Compliance Perspective – Sexual Assault

Policies/Procedures: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Administrator will review policies and procedures involving protecting residents from sexual assault by fellow residents, staff, or others.

Training: The Compliance and Ethics Officer, as well as every department head, will ensure that staff are trained to respond in a timely manner to concerns about sexual assault or any type of assault directed at residents. Staff will receive additional training to ensure they understand the importance of following safety care plans designed to protect vulnerable residents from aggressors.

Audit: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Director of Nursing should personally conduct an audit of all residents’ assessments that were completed to address concerns of sexual aggression, and determine the effectiveness of the safety plans that were put in place. Changes to the plans should be made if deemed necessary, with additional staff education.

A staff member observed a 57-year-old male resident leaving the room of a 75-year-old non-verbal, non-mobile female resident. When the staff member entered the woman’s room to check on her, he found evidence that she had been sexually assaulted. The police were called immediately and came to the nursing home to investigate the incident.

After examining the physical evidence and conducting their investigation, the man was arrested and charged with second-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault, second-degree burglary, and second-degree reckless endangerment.

As part of their investigation, police investigators interviewed staff members, family members and the suspected assailant. During the interview, the resident’s family told the investigators that there had been multiple incidents where the suspected resident had been entering the victim’s room specifically against the family’s wishes and the nursing home had assured them that a safety plan had been created and was in place to prevent the man from having access to the woman.

The man remains in custody at a hospital on a $100,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in February.