One nursing home administration’s officials did not consider
a male resident’s alleged molestation of 10 female residents sexual
abuse for several months. Instead, on one occasion, a high-ranking
administration member described the man’s actions as not rough, “but
more of a seduction” when describing one incident, according to a department of public health investigation.
The nursing home’s officials still refuse to speak publicly about a
male resident’s sexual abuse of 10 female residents since Dec. 24, many
of whom are diagnosed as having dementia.
However, a newspaper’s examination of the investigation reveals the
home’s social service director — who is a member of the home’s
three-person abuse/neglect committee — “did not consider this abuse,
but considered it R19’s (the designation given to the unidentified male
resident) inappropriate behavior.”
State officials determined the
nursing home failed six state requirements ranging from failing to
protect current residents to the administrative staff failing to
administer the facility to prevent repeated occurrences of sexual
abuse, which placed all 96 residents at the facility in jeopardy.
The male resident involved is
currently not a resident at the home.
According to the
investigation, 15 different forms penned by nurses dated between Jan.
17 and May 26 document incidents of a male resident making sexual
comments, kissing, fondling female residents’ breasts and/or groin
area, all against their will, beginning on Dec. 24.
When these
incidents occur, the nursing home’s abuse prevention policy states the
administrator, director of nurses or social service director is to
determine if there is a reasonable cause for possible mistreatment, and
if so, they are to then investigate or appoint a person to take charge
of the investigation.
But in response to all of the 15 various
forms, the social service director told the state that she “had not considered
these reports as reports of sexual abuse, but that they were reports of
(the male resident’s) inappropriate behavior.” For more, read the story.
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Robert W. Carter, Jr. is a Virginia attorney whose law practice is
dedicated to protecting the rights of the victims of nursing
home and assisted living neglect and abuse in Richmond, Roanoke,
Norfolk, Lynchburg, Danville, Charlottesville, and across Virginia.
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