women histories, incest sexual abuse. institutionalized. But what if ...

no safe place f 1,
our most vulnerable
by the very people who are supp
After a devastating car accident that left her permanently
bedridden and in need of around-the-clock care, Andrea**
became a long-term patient at the Laurelwood
Convalescent Hospital in North Hollywood, California. Paralyzed,
unable to speak, eat, or control her bowels or bladder, she also lost
the ability to summon help when she needed it. But she could still
smile, and register pain and discomfort. In 1982, her family was
unable to understand why Andrea suddenly became very restless,
whimpered a lot and cried more. But then they also hadn't understood
why, against their wishes, Andrea had recently been moved
to an isolated room where she was attended only by male aides.
Then Andrea missed two periods, at which point it was discovered
that this totally incapacitated woman, a patient in a state
convalescent home, was pregnant. Finally, staff understood why
Andrea's feeding tube had been mysteriously disrupted several
times.
Andrea's family sued and won a $7.5 million jury award.
But in 1993, an appeals court ruled that the "failure for the facility
to provide security" did not constitute "professional negligence."
In doing so, the court reversed the original verdict, sent the
case back to the trial court, and ordered that "each party bear its
own costs on appeal." Eventually, the case was settled out of court
for less than a million dollars. One can only ask: Just what would
constitute "professional negligence?"
Clearly, Andrea did not—and could not—consent to sexual
intercourse. Totally disabled and trapped in her own body, she
was raped in a convalescent home charged with her care. Are
crimes not prosecuted when they occur on state property? Or
** Some ex-patients' names have been changed to protect their privacy.
winter 1998 - 12
when the criminal is acting on behalf of the state? Is the state
above the law?
In 1986, a part-time program aide alleged that a female
resident at the DePaul Mental Health Services, Inc. in
Churchville, New York had been raped. What action was taken?
The aide was fired. When she brought a retaliatory discharge
action against her employer, the Monroe County Supreme Court
ruled that her firing was not based on this incident.
In 1992, in Pendleton, Oregon, Cathy Neely, a former
patient at the Eastern Oregon Psychiatric Center, brought a civil
rights action alleging that her right to personal security had been
violated by the center's staff, who failed to protect her from being
sexually assaulted by a psychiatric aide. Before Neely, in October
of 1988, a female patient at the same center had filed charges
against the same aide, alleging that "Jess Terry had put his hands
down her pants, fondled her vaginal area and her breasts and told
her that he had seen her lying naked in bed at night and wanted
to jump in with her." An in-house committee was convened—one
that failed to question the patient's mother, chaplain or treating
psychologist. Not surprisingly, the committee found "no evidence
to substantiate the charge."
In March of 1989, a second patient also accused Terry of
"putting his hands in her pants and his finger in her vagina," and
of "fondling her breasts." A second hearing was held at which
three additional patients testified that Terry "came on to" female
patients. Both the treating psychologist and a patient who witnessed
the incidents in question testified for the woman. Again,
the committee concluded that "that there was no evidence to substantiate
the charges." This time, however, Terry was issued a
written reprimand for "poor judgement" and put on his own good