Recent News & Upcoming Events
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Assisted living facility owner charged with having sex with resident The owner of an assisted living facility is being charged with having sex with one of his residents. Police in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, say 58 year old Bruce McIlquham had sex three times with a 45 year woman who suffered brain injuries during a car crash years ago. The woman was a resident at his facility. The home is located at 819 Park Ridge Drive on the Eau Claire's east side. The victim said the owner of the assisted living facility would come into her room after his wife left for work. She said it happened three or four times. When confronted by the authorities the owner confessed. He's charged with three counts of second degree sexual assault and faces 40 years in prison on each count. Read Full Article |
Oregon family of missing Alzheimer's patient sues assisted living center. When Ruby Larson disappeared in 2007, it was a mystery without an ending. Larson, a 75-year-old Alzheimer's patient, wandered away from an assisted living center, never to be seen again. She was declared legally dead by a judge's order in 2008. Larson was admitted to Pheasant Pointe in May 2007. The staff was aware that Larson suffered from dementia, short-term memory loss and disorientation, with no memory of her own health needs, medications or limitations. In addition, the staff was aware that Larson occasionally wandered. On July 23, 2007, after Larson already had wandered off three separate times, she disappeared. Teams from Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties launched searches, but turned up nothing. A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Oregon assisted living center, alleging that the facility's staff failed to properly care for her. The lawsuit alleges Pheasant Pointe was negligent by not making sure that Larson, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, would not wander off. The lawsuit claims Pheasant Pointe should have had Larson in an Alzheimer's care unit equipped to keep her from wandering away and that the center staff failed to tailor care and supervision for her needs. The lawsuit also alleges that Pheasant Pointe staff was slow to report Larson's disappearance to Molalla police. The case was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court against Pheasant Pointe Retirement and Assisted Living Residence and its parent company, Spectrum Retirement Communities of Oregon. Read Full Article |
Assisted living center ordered to make changes after murder A Hickory, North Carolina, assisted living center must make immediate safety improvements following a man's murder. If not, they'll face substantial fines. The state of North Carolina concluded that Walden House committed two "Class A" violations for personal care and residents' rights after 70-year-old Roland Claude Simmons was bludgeoned to death. The 67-page report says murder suspect, 43-year-old Dennis Scherzer, was a bully. He has mental problems, often argued with Walden House employees and picked on other Walden House residents to get cigarettes and money. The report says, if residents didn't cooperate, Scherzer would squeeze their legs. Simmons went outside to smoke a cigarette July 8. He's described in the report as quiet and not a trouble-maker. Scherzer was watching television, and then joined Simmons outside. Staffers heard arguing, and the report says, "wondered who Scherzer was taking his frustration out on?" They heard what sounded like metal banging, looked out and saw Scherzer beating Simmons in the head several times with some sort of stick. A state investigation after the murder found Walden House has no plan to manage bad behavior and failed to supervise Scherzer. It must do a better job documenting incidents, supervising, intervening and protecting residents from abuse and exploitation. Simmons' family says he began living at the assisted living center after a stroke and thought he'd be safe. Read Full Article |
St. Paul assisted-living facility, ex-worker sued in alleged sexual assault of elderly woman A St. Paul, Minnesota, assisted-living facility has been sued in Ramsey County District Court after an 81-year-old woman with dementia was sexually abused there by a maintenance caretaker, according to a lawsuit recently filed. The suit alleges that a maintenance worker at the Wellington, 2235 Rockwood Ave., St. Paul, Minnesota, used a set of master keys to enter the woman's apartment Aug. 8, 2007. Other staffers caught him naked and lying atop the woman on her couch. The woman "was incapable of consenting to Scott Werb's sexual contact to her person due to mental impairment, mental incapacity and/or physical helplessness." The lawsuit alleges that before being hired March 30, 2007, Werb had been charged with criminal assault and had been convicted and incarcerated for other crimes. Werb was not charged criminally for actions described in the lawsuit, according to the woman's attorney. St. Paul police spokesman Sgt. Paul Schnell said he was unable to locate a police report about the incident described in the lawsuit. The suit said the Wellington failed to protect residents from danger after the master keys were lost. The suit also alleges the Wellington concealed facts about the incident from the woman's family and told other workers they would be fired if they discussed the event with anyone. The Wellington's management did not report the incident to police and other authorities until the following day, 15 hours after the incident. Read Full Article |
 

