(photo credit: KMOV photo and screen shot)
Family members of an elderly woman who allegedly was raped and sodomized at a Missouri nursing home launched a $1 billion lawsuit against the facility on Thursday.
The children of 84-year-old Delores Green said their mother was sexually assaulted multiple times during her eight-year residency at Christian Care Home in Ferguson. Green’s family told KMOV their mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and a condition that causes her arms and legs to go stiff, leaving her vulnerable.
“They failed her, they failed my mother, they failed her totally,” said Colette Green, Delores’ daughter.
During a visit to the facility in August, Colette said she first noticed bruising around her mother’s vaginal and rectum area when giving Delores a bath. Colette then notified the Ferguson Police Department after her mother’s injuries had gotten worse during more frequent visits.
“When I found out what happened to my mother I was shocked and I was traumatized,” Kyle Green told the news station.
The family took Delores to SSM Health DePaul Hospital and medical officials determined their mother has been raped repeatedly.
“Raped, sodomized. And no telling when it started or how long it’s been going on. But we know one thing, it has to stop,” attorney Willie Gary said.
Delores was transferred to a different nursing home and the family hired a legal team. They’re suing Christian Care Home for $1 billion in punitive damages. Colette claimed the facility turned a blind eye after she reported her mother’s injuries.
The Associated Press reports that Ferguson Assistant Police Chief Frank McCall said a resident of the Christian Care Home has been identified as a possible suspect but any charges are awaiting the outcome of lab tests.
Attorney Richard Banks told the news station, “Unfortunately the system has failed and it’s not just in Miss Green’s case. The system’s failed a number of times across the country, and these are the people, the voiceless.”
