F0600

J

Failure to Protect Cognitively Impaired Resident From Known Sexually Inappropriate Resident

South Beloit, Illinois Survey Completed on 03-10-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to protect a cognitively impaired, non-verbal resident (R7) from sexual abuse by another resident (R8) with a known pattern of sexually inappropriate behaviors. R7 had a history of multiple strokes, hemiplegia on the right side, aphasia resulting in no speech and rare understandability, memory impairment, and severely impaired decision-making. She used a wheelchair, self-propelled, and required maximum assistance with activities of daily living. Her care plan did not identify any behaviors, despite her tendency to hold hands with others and wheel herself toward people to grab their hands. On the evening of 3/2/2026, staff observed R8 in the resident common area with his hand on R7’s thigh, moving toward her genital area. An agency LPN (V17) immediately separated the residents, called for R7’s nurse, and directed R8 to leave the area after witnessing his hand on R7’s thigh moving up toward her private area.

Prior to this incident, multiple staff were aware that R8 had a history of sexually inappropriate behavior toward female residents. The care plan for R8, initiated in 2025, documented that he might be socially inappropriate with other residents and included an intervention added on 3/20/2025 to not allow him to be unsupervised with female residents, as well as an intervention to remove him from situations to protect the rights and safety of others. Progress notes showed that after Depo-Provera was started in 7/2025 for abnormal sexual behavior, R8 continued to engage in inappropriate conduct, including touching a female resident’s abdomen, kissing another female resident’s hand, following a female resident around while trying to hold her hands and rub her arms, and kissing another cognitively impaired female resident (R6) on the mouth. Staff interviews confirmed that R8 had been caught touching and kissing female residents, engaging in multiple instances of inappropriate touching around breasts, and being sexually inappropriate with another resident in his room. Despite this documented and observed pattern, behavior monitoring tools for R6, R7, and R8 showed no behaviors for the last 30 days.

On the day of the incident, an RN (V11) had already taken steps to move R7 to another unit earlier in the shift after R8 called out for staff to bring R7 to him, due to R8’s known history with female residents. However, this information was not communicated to the agency LPN (V17), who stated that if she had known, she would have kept a closer eye on the situation and kept female residents away from R8. The responding police officer’s report documented that the nurse witness stated R8’s hand was on R7’s lap, close to her vaginal area, and that R7 could not speak or move well enough to give consent. A resident witness reported seeing R7 swat away R8’s hand and stated that this was not the first time R8 had touched female residents inappropriately. Despite the incident and R8 being charged with criminal sexual abuse, the surveyor later observed R7 and R8 holding hands in the common area while numerous staff were present and did not intervene until the administrator noticed the surveyor observing the situation. The facility’s abuse policy stated that residents have the right to be free from abuse, defined sexual abuse as behavior without consent or capacity to consent (including kissing and hugging), required monitoring of resident behaviors for abuse triggers, reassessment of care plan interventions, and removal of alleged perpetrators from further resident contact, but these measures were not effectively implemented to prevent or promptly address R8’s access to cognitively impaired female residents such as R7.