Thursday, July 16, 2009

Nurse at NY nursing home accused of raping a disabled patient

From WHEC-TV:

A nurse at the Shore Winds nursing home in Rochester is accused of raping a "disabled" patient. When News 10NBC broke the story concerning the allegation in December, the nursing home denied it.

Kipper Stevens is charged with one count of second degree rape and one count of endangering the welfare of a disabled person. He plead not guilty in court this morning. His lawyer said he couldn't comment yet.

Stevens is accused of raping one of the patients under his care.

The complaint came into the state health department just before Christmas. It said a nursing home worker had sexual contact with a resident. At the time, the New York State Department of Health said it inspected the nursing home that day and found the claim was serious enough to warrant a full investigation. Today's charges are the result of a Rochester Police Department investigation.

When News 10NBC called Shore Winds back in December to find out what happened, the man who took our call told us quote, "nothing happened." When pressed with more questions, he said he was done and he hung up. According to what was said in court this morning, Stevens has been fired from the nursing home. Lawyers also said he is married with two children.

Here are quotes from Assistant District Attorney Matthew Schwartz:

"He's accused of having sexual intercourse with the victim while in his position as a licensed nurse. The victim is one of the patients at the facility he was working at."

"This was an investigation conducted by the Rochester Police Department. I think they did a very good job. And these charges stem from that investigation."

"I'd like to make it clear that the nursing home has been extremely cooperative throughout the investigation. This appears to be an isolated incident. There was no evidence uncovered during the investigation that would lead us to believe that anybody else associated with the nursing home is responsible or anyway involved in these kinds of actions."

Stevens was sent to jail on $1,500 bail. He is scheduled to be back in court July 21.