Minnesota Nursing Home Sexual Abuse Investigation Inconclusive
When officials at Cerenity Bethesda in St. Paul, Minnesota suspected sexual abuse had occurred at the facility, they took action. The investigation was triggered when a resident's physician reported that the resident had trichomonas, a sexually transmitted disease. The facility reported the findings to state officials and commenced an internal investigation.
Sixteen days later, a female resident reported being attacked. Despite the resident's dementia and previous unfounded allegations, the facility treated the report as if it were true and began an examination of every female resident on that unit. Six residents were sent to the hospital for sexual assault examinations and physicians found three showed "lacerations and physical findings consistent with recent sexual assault".
Cerenity hired experts to examine the three residents and those experts found "no evidence to substantiate a diagnosis of sexual assault".
During the pendency of the investigations, Cerenity sent home eight male employees with pay, stationed guards at facility doors to register and escort visitors, retrained staff on spotting sexual abuse, and used a "buddy system" for more than a month to prevent residents from being alone with any employee or visitor. Despite the precautions, the facility was cited twice during the state investigation for "immediate jeopardy" in failing to adequately protect residents and failing to take immediate corrective action. Cerenity was found to have erred by sending home male workers without considering that a female may have been at fault and for ending the buddy system before the state investigation had concluded.
The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home sexual abuse. If you suspect your loved one may have suffered abuse, please contact us at 1 (888) 317-2525 or visit us at www.nursinghomejustice.com.
