Our Boston personal injury law firm is an expert team of highly-qualified and accomplished personal injury attorneys with many years of experience and a well-deserved reputation for achieving outstanding results. Our Massachusetts nursing home abuse lawyers, including our sexual abuse injury specialists, will work with great skill and expertise to ensure that you receive just compensation for your injuries. Please call 617-787-3700, 24/7, or email info@gilhoylaw.com to set up a free and confidential consultation.
Though it may be the final option for some families, admitting a loved one to a nursing home for professional medical care can often be in their best interests. Many families simply do not have the financial means or professional experience to appropriately deal with a loved one’s physical or mental ailments. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities, therefore, may be the best option to care for and house an elderly relative.
Recent studies show that of the 1.4 million Americans living in nursing homes today, roughly 10% have experienced some kind of abuse at the hands of their caregivers. Of those cases of abuse, only 1 out of 14 have been reported to the proper authorities. Nursing home abuse and elder neglect is sometimes difficult to detect because the warning signs are frequently so subtle. While bruises and lacerations are obvious signs of abuse, the mental and emotional scars are often the ones that hurt the most. In addition, the perpetrators of these despicable acts are sometimes the least suspecting individuals.
A Portland, Oregon man was arrested in July of 2014 for the alleged rape of an elderly woman during the months of March and May of 2013. According to Portland Police, 59-year-old Richard Vandenberg had befriended an elderly woman at a local church, and began to visit her at her nursing home. While carrying on the guise of being a friend, Vandenberg sexually abused and raped his victim behind the closed doors of the nursing home. Portland Police have withheld the names of the victim and the nursing home during the ongoing criminal investigation.
According to court documents, Vandenberg is being charged with ten counts of first-degree sexual abuse, four counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration and two counts of first-degree rape. He is being held on $4 million bail. This is Vandenberg’s first criminal offense in the last 21 years.
If you or your loved one has been sexually or physically abused, mistreated, or neglected in a nursing home or other assisted living facility, contact our Boston, MA nursing home abuse lawyers, who will pursue your claim with the utmost diligence. We will make sure that you are fairly and fully compensated for your physical and emotional pain and anguish. Your needs are our top priority!
