Jonathan Rosenfeld's Nursing Homes Abuse Blog : Jonathan Rosenfeld's Nursing Homes Abuse Blog | Lawyer & Attorney : Strellis & Field Law Firm | Bed Sores, Senior Neglect, Elder Abuse, Sexual Abuse: Chicago, Illinois

John Riems, a former nursing home supervisor at Conrad Care and Rehabilitation Center in Ohio. During questioning by prosecutors, Reims admitted to abusing nearly 100 patients during his 22-year career at nursing homes.  Reims is under investigation from an original charges involving the allegations of abuse involving a 55-year-old blind man and a partially paralyzed man in his 80's.  Fourteen more felony counts have been filed against Mr. Reims since the investigation began-- 12 counts of rape and two counts of felonious sexual penetration.  Read more about this Ohio nursing home story here.

I certainly believe in 'innocent until proven guilty,' but with this type of evidence against him, it certainly looks like Mr. Riems at the very least neglecting his nursing responsibilities and at worst perpetrating disgusting crimes against innocent elderly.  In Illinois, nursing home's must screen all employees to prevent any person with a criminal record from interacting with the nursing home residents.

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This report of an Alzheimer's patient who was sexually assaulted by her co-resident (a registered sex offender) demonstrates the extreme vulnerability of nursing home residents with dementia and Alzheimer's.  Nursing home's must take extra precautions when handling Alzheimer's patients.  Unlike most nursing home residents, who are capable of most daily living needs, many with Alzheimer's are completely dependent on the nursing home staff for every need- feeding, bathing, medication and toileting.

What makes this story particularly disturbing is that the 'victim' of the sexual assault is probably incapable of identifying the perpetrator.  Consequently, there is a chance that this individual could commit a similar crime again against another nursing home resident.  Nursing homes must begin to take precautions to protect their residents. 

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More than 1,600 registered sex offenders are currently living amongst the elderly in nursing homes throughout the country according to a nursing home watchdog group. Wes Bledsoe, a nursing home safety advocate, tracked the number of sex offenders living amongst the general nursing home population by matching addresses from the sex offender registry with the Medicare database. The total number of felons living in nursing homes is even higher as many criminal convictions are not publicly available.

Currently there are no federal or state laws to keep violent offenders out of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Many of the violent offenders could be easily identified by nursing home administrators prior to their admission. Conducting a criminal background check, similar to those used for nursing home employees, would alert the facilities to those individuals who have criminal histories.

A criminal background check should be conducted universally for all nursing home residents--not just the young or able bodied. Nursing home residents are entitled to live in a safe place--free from abuse and violence. The relative cost of conducting these checks is more than justified when it comes to enhancing the safety of our elderly population.  Read more about the criminals living amongst our elderly here.

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