EVERETT — A caregiver at an Everett assisted living facility was arrested Tuesday for investigation of rape of a resident with dementia.
An employee noticed blood on the 81-year-old resident’s bedding the morning of Sept. 7 at the care home in the 4200 block of Colby Avenue, according to a police report. There was also a condom on the floor next to the bed, the employee found.
Blood had been found in her bed on two occasions, in June and August, according to police.
The resident’s daughter asked her mother, who lives with Alzheimer’s, if anything happened. She didn’t remember. She was taken to the hospital for a sexual assault examination.
The staff member who found the potential evidence alerted her supervisor. The care home called police. Detectives got DNA samples from both male workers on the night shift. The facility placed the men on leave.
On Oct. 1, detectives received a lab report indicating there was “very strong support” a 30-year-old nursing assistant from Lynnwood was the suspect, according to court papers. The man told police he didn’t do anything to the resident.
The man had been working at the facility since January. Before that, he worked as a caregiver in Bothell and Federal Way.
Police found he was also working the night shift on the dates in June and August, as well.
Twenty-four residents lived on the first floor at the time of the alleged sexual assault in early September. Three were men, but police did not consider them suspects because of their own medical ailments. The care home is secured with a locked courtyard, and the resident’s bedroom window showed no signs of forced entry, according to police.
On the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift there were three caregivers — one for each floor and one who went between the floors as needed. The Lynnwood man was assigned to the 81-year-old resident’s floor that night. The woman was helped to the bathroom around 9:30 p.m. the night before and there weren’t any issues then, according to detectives.
The accused caregiver agreed to come to the facility Tuesday morning. Everett police arrested him for investigation of second-degree rape. In a police interview, he denied the allegations.
Everett District Court Judge Douglas Fair set bail Wednesday at $10,000. The suspect was being held at the Snohomish County Jail.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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