Rape investigated at Opelika nursing home

Opelika police are investigating a report of a 71-year-old nursing home resident being raped at a local facility Thursday.

An employee at the Care Center of Opelika on Pepperell Parkway reported the incident, according to Opelika police Capt. Allan Elkins. The incident occurred at 4:48 p.m. Thursday, according to the police report.

Opelika police have the name of an elderly suspect in the case, Elkins said. The victim and the suspect were both residents at the Care Center, Elkins said.

Care Center of Opelika administrator Jane Hornsby declined to comment on the report Thursday. Hornsby said the Care Center was taking statements and conducting an internal investigation into the report.

Reports of rape in nursing homes statewide are “very rare,” according to Alabama Nursing Home Association Spokesman John Matson. The ANHA, established in 1951, is a membership-based organization that represents individuals, companies and government agencies associated with the state’s long-term health care industry, according to http://www.anha.org.

Any time a resident-on-resident abuse incident is reported at a nursing home, state regulations require that it be reported to local law enforcement officials and to the Alabama Department of Public Health, Matson said.

Nursing home facilities are required to investigate each incident and provide the results to the Alabama Department of Public Health, Matson said. The state Department of Public Health will then follow up with its own investigation, which could result in fines, he said.

The reported incident at Care Center in Opelika remains under investigation by the Opelika Police Department, Elkins said.

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