Reported by: Kaci Christian |
January 13, 2009
FOX23.com, Tulsa OK
Disturbing sexual allegations against a nursing home employee are coming to light. Officers arrested a man in Bixby last Friday, January 9, 2009, after a witness contacted authorities. Edward Lee Marshall is accused of sexual molestation of a blind and disabled resident. Marshall is currently out on a $27,000 bond. FOX 23’s Kaci Christian has more on the serious issue of elder abuse.
“We’re told it happens far more often than we know: people confined to nursing homes or other longterm residential assisted care facilities being assaulted, abused and neglected, yet many times, we don’t suspect a thing,” reports FOX 23’s Kaci Christian.
Kathy King is a veteran with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. She’s with the Adult Protective Services division.
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, DHS recorded 160 referrals of abuse, neglect or exploitation, and state caseworkers verified 44% of those, or 70 cases.
For the same period ending June 30, 2007, there were 158 allegations and 34%, or 54 cases, confirmed.
“If they’re agitated, if they’re restless, if they don’t seem themselves, then that might be a clue to a family member or a non-professional that they need to do a little more investigation,” she says.
And report problems or even suspicions to authorities.
“Things like rape, sexual assault, physical assault, abuse need to be reported immediately to law enforcement,” explains Wes Bledsoe with A Perfect Cause advocacy group, “then they would need to report to the state Department of Health.”
Bledsoe says reform in longterm care and oversight for the elderly is desperately needed.
You can find out more information by calling A Perfect Cause at 405-702-4330 or visit the organization’s website at http://www.aperfectcause.org.
A list of the warning signs of elder abuse can be found athttp://204.87.68.21/aps/warning.html.
You can report elder abuse, neglect and exploitation by calling the state abuse hotline toll-free at (800) 522-3511.
There is also a local Tulsa number to which you can report abuse: (918) 430-2320.
Adult Protective Services also has a valuable brochure (OKDHS Pub. No. 03-08), covering facts, prevention, terminology and warning signs. The organization’s website is http://www.okdhs.org/aps. Members of the public may obtain this brochure by contacting the OKDHS Records Center toll-free at (877) 283-4113 or (405) 962-1721. hristian, FOX 23 News.”
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