Alyssa Donovan and Andrew Smith
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. — A woman is suing a Northwest Indiana nursing home after she claims a resident sexually assaulted her grandmother.
According to a police report, a nurse found a 90-year-old man sexually assaulting a 96-year-old woman in her room earlier this month.
The man, who is a registered sex offender, admitted to the crime but has not been arrested and remains at Harbor Health and Rehab.
Glorietta Evans-Dumas said she received a call from a staff member at the facility on Sept. 2 saying her grandmother, Ruth Reed, 96, had been assaulted.
“I had to take my grandmother to the emergency room to get an examination,” Evans-Dumas said.
According to the police report, a nurse walked into Reed’s room at the facility and found the man touching her breast.
The nurse asked Reed if she was ok and when she said no, the nurse called police.
The man was interviewed by police and said “I am dumb, I messed up.”
While a nursing home facility does not legally have to inform residents or family members if a sex offender lives at a facility, they do have to be prepared if an incident occurs, according to the attorney representing Evans-Dumas.
“It is a law that they have to have a comprehensive plan in place to deal with violent sex offenders,” the attorney said.
When asked by WGN-TV for details about its plan, Harber Health did not share any details, but did issue a statement.
“We promptly reported the incident to state and local authorities in full compliance with Indiana regulations, initiating a comprehensive investigation,” the statement read in part.
Meanwhile, Reed and the man who allegedly assaulted her remain at the facility.
Evans-Dumas said she is working to move her grandmother, but unfortunately, it takes time.
“You have to go through a lot of paper, red tape,” Evans-Dumas said. “You have to make sure there’s a nursing home that has an available bed for a dementia patient. Can’t just throw her out there again to the wolves.”
According to the sex offender registry, two sex offenders live at the facility.
The man who allegedly assaulted Reed is a sexually violent predator.
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