Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Eighteen year old Raymond Tillman, a suspected nursing home rape suspect, turned himself in after police officials released surveillance video of the suspect leaving the facility. Reportedly, Tillman's family members saw his image and immediately worked to convince him to turn himself in.

Tillman was wanted in connection with a sexual assault that occurred on Sunday, February 14, 2010 around 5:00 p.m. at a nursing home in New Orleans, Louisiana. "According to investigators, the suspect entered the nursing home and sexually assaulted a female inside of her room and then fled on foot," said Officer Gary Flot in a news release.

Somerset Place, a Chicago, Illinois nursing home, faces possible closure unless it can remedy the situation that placed "the health and safety of...residents in immediate jeopardy." Reports of abuse and violence and many citations from the Department of Public Health have placed this nursing home in the public eye. Complaints from Alderman Mary Ann Smith and community groups helped expose the facility's problems.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services conducted a ten day investigation at the facility and, at its conclusion, threatened the facility with termination from Medicare and Medicaid if the problems are not corrected within 23 days. Federal fines of $6,050 are accruing daily against the facility. The Public Health Department began the process to revoke the facility's state nursing home license last week. According to a Public Health Department spokesperson, "This happens very infrequently. This is the most serious thing the state can do." The facility has requested a hearing to contest the license revocation saying "the well-being of our residents, the community and our 250 employees is of paramount importance to us and we are committed to resolving these matters and moving forward."

Somerset specializes in caring for mentally ill adults. Among its 400 residents, Somerset housed 66 felons. From April 2008 to July 2009, police investigated 15 alleged assaults and/or batteries, five criminal sexual assaults, and five narcotic possessions - all within the facility. One Somerset resident, Maratta Walker, had been prostituting herself and using cocaine while a resident at the facility.

Somerset reported profits of approximately $2.3 million on revenues of $15.5 million in 2008, almost all of it from Medicaid.

More than 100 registered sex offenders currently reside in Ohio nursing homes without residents and their families knowing their offenses or their very existence. Senate Bill 130, sponsored by Senator Capri Cafro (D-Hubbard) would force nursing home administrators to notify residents, family members, and guardians when a sex offender with a Tier III status intends upon moving into the facility. Tier III offenses include rape, sexual battery, kidnapping of a minor, and gross sexual imposition on a child younger than 12. Currently, nearly 2/3 of the registered sex offenders living in Ohio nursing homes are Tier III status.

Current Ohio law only requires that anyone living within 1,000 feet of the sex offender be notified. The law does not require nursing home administrators to inform residents, family, or guardians.

The bill calls for a $100 per day violation for facilities that fail to comply with the new legislation.

The Chicago Tribune recently published an article questionning whether a popular program that rid Illinois nursing homes of sex offenders was cut to save costs. In 2001, the Illinois State Police began staging raids on nursing home facilities to sweep out unregistered sex offenders and ex-convicts with outstanding arrest warrants for a variety of crimes, including armed robbery and murder.

From January 2005 through June 2006, twenty northern Illinois nursing homes were raided and police removed approximately 80 fugitives and sex offenders. Nursing home abuse and neglect complaints in that area decreased 67%, according to a department citation issued to the unit conducting the raids.

In 2006, the raids were suddenly stopped. Could the abandoned "sweeps program" be an example of how Illinois cut costs? Reportedly, these raids were stopped as facilities were still admitting felons and sex offenders, exposing our vulnerable elderly to assaults, rapes, and other types of abuse.

Franklin D. Hughes, a former CNA at Bartlesville Care Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, has been charged with two counts of caretaker abuse and his bond has been set at $200,000.

Reportedly, the first incident of alleged mistreatment occurred between July 1 and August 8, 2008, when Hughes allegedly mistreated a 76 year old dementia resident. The victim's wife was visiting the man on August 8, 2008, when she learned of the abuse unexpectedly. Hughes was walking by the resident's room and the man told his wife that he hated Hughes. When asked why, the man told his wife that Hughes had been "hunching and kissing on him". According to an affidavit, the facility's Assistant Director of Nursing, Ronna Heatherly, was told that on August 8, 2008, Hughes had taken the man into the bathroom and while cleaning him, he began "hunching" him and "kissing him on the cheek and around his mouth".

On October 1, 2009, Hughes reportedly attempted to perform sex acts on an 83 year old resident suffering from dementia. The resident told both Ronna Heatherly and his pastor that Hughes asked if he could "get in bed with him, if he could kiss him" and "tried to have sex with me".

When questioned about the allegations, Hughes reportedly denied any inappropriate behavior, yet mentioned that a similar allegation against him had been made at the Nowata Nursing Center. Police contacted the Director of the Nowata Nursing Center, Dorothy Scott, who provided the police with a letter addressed to Hughes from the Oklahoma State Department of Health concerning a complaint a former resident, who also suffered from dementia, had made accusing Hughes of "touching" him. A second complaint at the same facility was made against Hughes on February 12, 2009, by a male resident who told facility staff that Hughes had "offered or asked to have sex with him" twice.

On November 5, 2009, Hughes admitted to inappropriate actions with two residents at Bartlesville Care Center and with the two residents at Nowata Nursing Center. He is scheduled to appear in court on November 20, 2009.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home sexual abuse. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Jason Lynn Pearl

We discussed Jason Lynn Pearl and the abuse residents endured at his hands in a previous blog. Pearl was investigated in February 2009 after allegations of abuse were leveled against him. The ensuing investigation revealed that Pearl had made video recordings on his mobile phone of him abusing three residents and showed them to others prior to deleting them. The videos showed Pearl yelling at one resident and jerking the shirt of another.

Pearl pleaded guilty to the charges and has been sentenced to two years in prison, and three years suspended sentence. He is forbidden to care for older people and children and has to pay $1,150 in fines. He also has been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and an alcohol and drug evaluation with follow-up treatment.

Silver Lake Care Center, the facility where Pearl was employed, has since closed.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

We discussed Shane Spooner, a former nurse's aide at Clinton County Nursing Home in New York, in previous blogs.

For amusement, Spooner took a photograph of the genitals of a 49 year-old traumatic brain injury resident and sent it via text message to a female co-worker. The woman reported the incident to supervisors and Spooner was eventually terminated.

After a police investigation, Spooner was charged with second degree unlawful surveillance and first degree dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image. He plead guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of attempted first degree of an unlawful surveillance image. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail on October 23, 2009 for taking the photograph, placed on three years' probation, and fined $500.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

We discussed Clifford Ray Holt in a previous blog. In July 2009, Holt took a 62 year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease into a room, told her that "this is my place", and started massaging her shoulders and fondling her breast, bruising her. Although suffering from Alzheimer's disease, his victim was able to report the incident.

Holt was arrested and charged with one count of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse in connection with the assault. On October 20, 2009, he plead guilty to a reduced count of Class A misdemeanor sexual battery and was sentenced to one year in jail.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home sexual abuse. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

A case of nursing home sexual abuse has been discovered at Texas Terrace Care Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

The Minnesota Health Department alleges that residents at the facility reported the abuse. Reportedly, the male employee entered a female resident's room and started "kissing her several times" on the cheek and mouth. She also alleges that the man tickled her diaper, touched her sexually, and assaulted her. She stated that she was surprised and thought "this can't be happening". Despite the woman's dementia, she clearly remembered the incident.

Two more residents alleged that the same employee had kissed them.

The facility fired the employee, who denied the allegations. The police have referred the case for possible criminal sexual assault charges.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home sexual abuse. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

After her eighty-two year old ward suffered through a sexual assault earlier this year, a guardian has sued the nursing home where the sexual assault occurred. The lawsuit, filed in Rock Island County Circuit Court, names Paul D. Hubbard and Parkview Terrace nursing home as co-defendants and only identifies the victim as Jane Doe to protect her identity.

The woman was allegedly assaulted on February 1, 2009 by Hubbard, who was an employee at Parkview Terrace nursing home in East Moline, Illinois. Hubbard was arrested and later pleaded guilty to a felony count of criminal sexual assault. He was sentenced in July 2009 to four years in prison and must serve 85% of his sentence.

The lawsuit alleges that the nursing home was negligent in several areas. According to the lawsuit, the nursing home failed to do a background check on Hubbard and hired him without checking any references. The suit also alleges that Hubbard was hired without a thorough interview and that the facility failed to check his personality. The facility is also accused of failing to monitor Hubbard, failing to train employees to recognize risks, and failing to have a larger staff and have security cameras and personnel.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases involving nursing home sexual assaults. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Clifford Ray Holt, a dishwasher at Hillside Rehabilitation Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, was charged September 16, 2009, with one count of second degree felony forcible sexual abuse after he allegedly fondled a 62 year-old Alzheimer's resident.

Holt allegedly led the woman into a room, told her "this is my place", and closed the door. He began massaging her shoulders and then grabbed the woman's breast hard enough to cause bruising. The woman was able to report the incident and Holt has since been fired.

Holt is not a stranger to the Utah court system. He pleaded guilty to vehicle burglary in March 2006 and was sentenced to one year in prison. He also pleaded guilty to vehicle burglary in 1997 and 1999. It is unclear whether the nursing home facility knew of Holt's criminal past when he was hired.

Holt remains in custody for violating parole while awaiting trial for sexual abuse. His bail is set at $75,000.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home sexual abuse. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

"If I said there was no danger, I would be lying." Counselor Ezio Leite on sex offenders on civil committment.

Several weeks ago, sixty year old Boyd Mullens was moved from a halfway house in Dallas to the Lake Worth Nursing Home in Lake Worth, Texas. Mullins is considered a sexually violent predator after being convicted of molesting several teenage boys.

Officials allegedly moved Boyd due to illness but refuse to elaborate. Nursing home staff members say that Mullins is able to ambulate but speaks using a computer device. He lives in a room with several other nursing home residents.

Facility social worker Laura Holbrook allegedly was not aware that Mullins was considered such a dangerous sex offender. While residents in the surrounding Lake Worth neighborhood were advised of Boyd's residency, as were nursing home employees, residents of the facility and their families were not notified. According to Holbrook, "No, we don't divulge that to family members." The nursing home Director refused to comment on the failure to notify and refused to discuss if any extra security precautions were taken to protect the residents.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home sexual abuse. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Bourbonnais Terrace officials face an inquiry by the Bourbonnais police about sexual abuse allegations that went unreported to the police for at least three months.

The sexual abuse allegations surround two incidents involving a resident who abused another resident sexually on January 16 and 17, 2009, according to Melanie Arnold, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health. The allegations, which involve a resident with a 1990 murder conviction, were uncovered during a March 2009 annual inspection. The nursing home reportedly failed to timely report the incident to the police, as did the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The Illinois nursing home faces a possible $20,000 fine, which it is contesting.

Daniel Larmore recently resigned as the Administrator of Harmony House Care Center in Waterloo, Iowa. He remains the current Chairman of the Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators. The question some have is: should he hold that position?

The Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators is responsible for licensing and disciplining Iowa's nursing home administrators, but has not taken any action against an administrator in two years.

A Des Moines Register report published this week listed instances of nursing home administrators who were accused by the state of failing to prevent or investigate resident abuse without being disciplined by the Board. Interestingly, Larmore found himself in this position in 2004 when he was the Administrator of Harmony House and serving on the Board; he was never disciplined by the Board. Public health officials could not say if Larmore's case was ever reviewed by the Board, but Larmore acknowledged that the Board failed to review some cases that were sent in for potential disciplinary action.

In 2004, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals alleged that Larmore failed to properly investigate and respond to complaints that a female nurse aide was repeatedly engaging in sexual intercourse with a 29 year old brain injured male resident. Co-workers had witnessed several suspicious encounters between the two and the resident's roommate also complained about the two allegedly having sex on the other side of the privacy curtain. Larmore argued that "The relationship was initiated by, and was meaningful to, (the resident)...The presented situation was one of mutual interest of a (resident) and a caregiver and, although inappropriate, did not present potential or actual harm to the consumer due to the reciprocal fond relationship." In Iowa, a professional caregiver who engages in sexual intercourse with a nursing home resident can be criminally charged with dependent adult abuse.

We discussed the LaSalle County nursing home in previous blogs.

Three top level administrators at LaSalle County nursing home were either fired or forced to resign after all three failed to take appropriate action after a male patient made sexual advances to at least ten elderly female residents, some of whom suffered from dementia. The facility also faces a possible $20,000 fine.

A county board committee was set to convene to discuss the situation when it was announced that the three administrators were no longer in the county's employ. Administrator Adrienne Erickson, Head of Nursing Lauretta Hammerich, and Lanette Olszanowski, Head of Social Services, all were fired or forced to resign. One woman refused to accept the request to resign and was immediately terminated. No reason was provided for the staffing change except "it was in the best interests of the home".

Dennis Reimann, a Minneapolis nursing home administrator, has been named interim administrator and two other appointments will be announced this week.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Three nurse's aides at Edgewood Vista Virginia, an assisted living facility located in Virginia, Minnesota, were terminated after abuse evidence was uncovered.

State investigators made an unannounced visit to Edgewood in April 2009 and found evidence that four residents had been verbally, physically, or emotionally abused. In one instance, the three employees targeted a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease and pinched her on the side of her breast, slapped her buttocks, and bounced a rubber ball off her buttocks. According to the investigative report, the resident "got meaner and more depressed" and refused to come out of her room. Allegedly, two employees also hit the resident with plastic foam "noodles" and put their cold hands on her neck to startle her after they came inside from the cold.

In another instance of abuse, the employees slapped a male resident in the mouth and told another resident to "shut up". A female resident was told she was "crazy" and aggravated until she yelled to be left alone.

The employees are not named in the report. One employee was unable to be contacted either by telephone or subpoena. The second employee denied the allegations and denied seeing the incidents. This employee did admit to taking a photograph of one of the residents and posting it on the internet. The photograph was removed after she was told that it was not allowed. The third employee told investigators about some of the abuse but did not report it. She went through a thirty day evaluation for using bad judgment. The three employees have since been terminated from the facility's employ. The investigative findings will appear on their background checks and they will be disqualified from working similar jobs.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

James W. Wright has been indicted on four counts of aggravated sexual battery of a resident after an investigation into the treatment of another resident from 2000 to 2007 uncovered abuse. He is being held without bond.

Wright was a nurse's aide at National Health Care nursing home in Bristol, Virginia. A former nurse at the facility witnessed Wrights abuse of a resident when she looked into the resident's room and found the woman in her wheelchair with her shirt and bra shoved high on her chest. Wright allegedly was standing behind the woman reaching around to fondle her breasts. Davenport alleges that Wrights abuse of residents was not a secret at the facility and that "when I talked to the rest of [the nurses], they said this has been going on for years." Wright's co-workers allege that facility management was lackadaisical toward the abuse violations.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Carolyn Wheeler, a recreational leader at Somers Manor Nursing Home in Somers, New York, has been charged with endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person in the second degree, which is a felony, and sexual abuse in the second degree, a misdemeanor.

Wheeler allegedly returned to the facility on August 17, 2009, while off-duty and was found by nursing staff engaging in sexual contact with a 60 year-old male resident suffering from a severe mental defect.

Wheeler was arraigned and remanded to the Westchester County Jail in lieu of $3,000 bail.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Ismael Golden is wanted by the police on a misdemeanor warrant for sexual battery on a nursing home resident and by the Medicaid Fraud Unit.

Golden, 29, allegedly molested a 55 year-old male nursing home resident suffering from stroke, paralysis, depression, and heart failure on or about February 16, 2009 at the Golden Living Centers in Merrillville, Indiana. He was charged on March 16, 2009, but was never arrested.

In mid-August 2009, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller issued subpoenas to local health providers to determine if any facility may have hired him. Allegedly, Golden was known to have used aliases in the past.

To date, Golden cannot be located and a warrant for his arrest has been issued.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Humberto Rodriguez is currently being held in the Sonoma County Jail on $130,000 bail after being charged with the rape and elder abuse of an elderly group home resident.

The rape and elder abuse was discovered after the resident, who is in her 80s, sought medical treatment for her injuries. The name of the care home is being withheld by authorities because it would identify the resident.

Rodriguez has been employed by the Sonoma County Health Department for more than 10 years and was also employed part-time at the care facility as an independent licensed caregiver. He is due back in court on August 31, 2009.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.