As trial lawyers we have seen many shocking cases which have resulted in severe injuries, but none more revolting than sexual abuse of the innocent and helpless. Elderly or mentally ill nursing home residents are easy prey for sexual predators because they are often weak and defenseless due to illness, such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, or dementia. Sexual abuse is any form of non-consensual sexual contact, including unwanted or inappropriate touching, rape, sodomy, sexual coercion, sexually explicit photographing, and sexual harassment.
Sexual abuse in a nursing home includes situations where the nursing home resident was forced, coerced, tricked, or manipulated into unwanted sexual contact and where the nursing home resident is too ill, frail, or mentally incapacitated to give consent. Our Chicago elder abuse lawyers have handled cases where a nursing home resident has been sexually abused by a nursing home staff member, by another resident, and even by strangers.
Unfortunately some poorly run nursing homes provide the perfect environment for sexual predators. Poorly managed nursing homes have been known to hire individuals with criminal backgrounds—this can happen when a nursing home does not want to spend time or money performing a criminal background check on prospective employees. In nursing homes that are understaffed and poorly run, sexual predators can move about freely without fear of discovery. Their victims are often unable to complain and when they do, the nursing homes often act to protect the criminal and cover up the crime.
“I honestly, to the core of my soul, believe that had we had other attorneys, our outcome would not have been in our favor—not by any stretch of the imagination. In timing, monetarily, emotionally, we would not have had near the outcome.”
In Illinois, sexual abuse in any form of a nursing home resident is a violation of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. We have represented many victims of sexual abuse in nursing homes, and we are dedicated to enforcing the Illinois law on nursing home abuse by pursuing in the Circuit Court those nursing homes who fail to protect their most vulnerable residents.
If your loved one has been a victim of sexual abuse in a nursing home or elder care facility, contact the lawyers at Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C. for legal representation. Our Chicago elder abuse lawyers assist clients in the city, throughout the surrounding Cook County suburbs, and across the nation.
For a free consultation, contact Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C. today at 312-553-4900 or fill out our online form to have a lawyer contact you.
