Two residents allege sexual assault by worker at West County nursing home
Suit says the staff at Town & Country Healthcare Center ignored complaints about employee.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
March 7, 2003
By PHILLIP O’CONNOR
Two residents sued a West County nursing home Friday, alleging they were sexually assaulted by a male employee who had a history of sexual abuse.
The suit, filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, also alleges that staff at Town & Country Healthcare Center, 13995 Clayton Road, ignored residents’ complaints about the employee, allowing the assaults to continue.
"When families make the difficult decision to place a loved one in a nursing home, they do so trusting that they will be adequately cared for and protected," said David W. Terry, the lawyer representing the two women. "With both these women, that trust was violated when the signs of a problem employee were ignored."
According to the lawsuit:
The nursing home hired the man in April 2001 without doing a search of court or military records that would have uncovered a history of past sexual assaults.
Several residents complained that the employee was being sexually inappropriate and engaging in unauthorized sexual activity with residents. Facility employees witnessed the male employee in compromising situations with other residents of the home many times, but failed to report the incidents.
On other occasions, similar instances reported to supervisors were ignored.
Nursing home officials were not immediately available for comment.
"I am confident that there are other residents who were sexually assaulted by this employee because of the defendants’ multiple failures to investigate," Terry said. "Had the defendants simply investigated the complaints made by the residents, my clients likely would have never been assaulted."
One of the women was 95 and suffering from dementia at the time of the alleged attacks. The other woman was 65, had Parkinson’s disease and could not defend herself against the assaults. The suit named several corporate defendants that owned and operated the home.
The facility previously operated under the names Clayton Healthcare Center and Clayton House.
The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Reporter Phil O’Connor:
E-mail: poconnor@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8321
