Sexual assault is on the rise for nursing home patients in one state with a former certified nursing assistant pleading guilty on two separate charges of rape. The caregiver was seen by a nurse assaulting a patient with dementia. The caregiver pleaded guilty in court for one charge of sexual assault and settled on the other charge of in a separate lawsuit a year prior.
The settlement involved a $2,000 donation to a coalition against sexual assault. The other part of the settlement was an agreement to pay $15 million to the estate of the rape survivor if any other sexual assaults occurred in the future. The agreement was an act in hopes of deterring and preventing the former caregiver from ever taking advantage of another victim.
“What we had here was a woman suffering from extreme dementia — a disease that is taking away her mind — and her last shred of dignity was stripped away by this guy,” said a lawyer representing the rape survivor through her daughter, who is also her guardian. “We can’t turn back the clock on what happened here, but we can make a loud enough statement so that other people will think twice about doing this.” For more, read the story.
