Nursing home owner covered up sexual attacks on elderly
Nurse is suspected of sexually abuisng old woman
Published Monday, June 13, 2011, 7:56 AM
Updated Monday, June 13, 2011, 9:25 AM
Nursing home owner and society figure Therese Lipsett covered up a series of sex attacks on an elderly woman in her care, reports the Mail Online.
Members of Lipsett's staff at the Rostrevor home in Dublin told the owner that one of the nurses, Stuart William Cummings, was getting into bed with elderly women, exposing himself to her, touching her sexually and making her touch him.
Despite the warnings from her staff, Lipsett, who opened the home in 1984, did not contact the police or the HSE. Nor did she have the Cummings fired or the victim medically examined. Insteadm she let the abuser carry on working as before, unsupervised.
According to nursing body An Bord Altranais, Lipsett's inaction exposed the elderly victim and other patients to further sexual attacks.
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Members of Lipsett's staff at the Rostrevor home in Dublin told the owner that one of the nurses, Stuart William Cummings, was getting into bed with elderly women, exposing himself to her, touching her sexually and making her touch him.
Despite the warnings from her staff, Lipsett, who opened the home in 1984, did not contact the police or the HSE. Nor did she have the Cummings fired or the victim medically examined. Insteadm she let the abuser carry on working as before, unsupervised.
According to nursing body An Bord Altranais, Lipsett's inaction exposed the elderly victim and other patients to further sexual attacks.
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The report also stated that Cummings brought alcohol into the home and was under the influence while working.
Furthermore, when Cummings was later fired from the south Dublin home, Lipsett provided fake references for jobs at a hospital and a nursing agency, thereby exposing other elderly people to the assaults.
These shocking revelations were discovered when police swooped down on the nursing home, which had been shut down by health watchdogs after separate allegations of physical abuse against patients by another staff member.
Lipsett's family are insisting that the allegations are false.
The attacks took place in 2005 but were not investigated until 2008, when a former staffer of the home reported them to the nursing board. However, Lipsett and Cummings were not struck off the nursing register until late 2010.
Health watchdogs would not say where Cummings worked after Rostrevor or whether similar allegations were made against him at subsequent places of employment.
Lipsett was still able to hand the home over to her two daughters and remain involved behind the scenes for several months. The Nursing Board ruling against her was made in Lipsett's maiden name and did not name her nursing home. Relatives of patients at Rostrevor have never been told what happened.
Furthermore, when Cummings was later fired from the south Dublin home, Lipsett provided fake references for jobs at a hospital and a nursing agency, thereby exposing other elderly people to the assaults.
These shocking revelations were discovered when police swooped down on the nursing home, which had been shut down by health watchdogs after separate allegations of physical abuse against patients by another staff member.
Lipsett's family are insisting that the allegations are false.
The attacks took place in 2005 but were not investigated until 2008, when a former staffer of the home reported them to the nursing board. However, Lipsett and Cummings were not struck off the nursing register until late 2010.
Health watchdogs would not say where Cummings worked after Rostrevor or whether similar allegations were made against him at subsequent places of employment.
Lipsett was still able to hand the home over to her two daughters and remain involved behind the scenes for several months. The Nursing Board ruling against her was made in Lipsett's maiden name and did not name her nursing home. Relatives of patients at Rostrevor have never been told what happened.
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Springfield9 | Jun 13, 2011, 10:22 AM EDT
Assault on a vulnerable adult will get you 8-15 years in prison. Accessory to assault on a vulnerable adult is 5-7 years. Good thing Lipsett lives where she does.
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jamieLM | Jun 13, 2011, 10:14 AM EDT
There are some very despicable people in the world who abuse the sick and the elderly and take advantage of their position of power and control. These cruel scums often get their jollies by abusing the weak and powerless while turning extra bucks for themselves. As a human and an RN, I have no words to adequately describe how contemptible and disgusting I find their actions to be. There's no excuse for their behavior. Lipsett should remember that one day, she'll be old and at the mercy of others for her care. I wonder how she'd like to be sexually attacked in her old age while others turned a blind eye. She should be thinking about her future from a prison cell. @antoman - unfortunately, stories like yours are all too common. Good to know you got some satisfaction from her fate, but I can't believe that woman wasn't prosecuted for the stolen goods.
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Siobhan39 | Jun 13, 2011, 09:54 AM EDT
That's right, George, blame the migrants from other countries. It's got to be their fault. That was the reasoning in the United States when "those Irish" moved in in the 19th and early 20th century.
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GeorgeDillon | Jun 13, 2011, 09:23 AM EDT
The non-professional sector of the elderly care industry is completely dominated by migrant workers from the Third World. The Irish don't value their own old people, otherwise they wouldn't leave their care to minimum wage foreigners, many of whom speak little English or know nothing of the culture of the country in which these elderly lived out their lives. Of course many of these foreign workers are decent people, their little education precluding them from seeking better opportunities. In the case of the latest scandal, however, the person mentioned in the Irish newspapers as responsible for attacks on the sick and elderly is from a place far from Ireland. In a country where there are continual complaints of "there's no jobs" (we hear it on this site too) it is contemptible social management that they import workers from 3000 miles away in the Indian Ocean.
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antoman | Jun 13, 2011, 09:01 AM EDT
I had a contact there and knew what was going on.The owner had CCTV cameras fitted but this did not deter the bully woman from her criminal activities.Finally I learned that she arrived to work one morning where the Gardai were waiting for her with a warrant to search her home and to arrest her.They went to home and searched it finding her freezer full of food clearly labelled as having come from the nursing home I worked in.They also found many medications belonging to the residents.She had also stolen money from the residents.I understand she was never publicly prosecuted by the law but instead was forced to quit working there.I took some satisfaction as you can imagine when I learned of her faith.True story.
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antoman | Jun 13, 2011, 08:54 AM EDT
Let me tell you a story about a nursing home I worked in here in Cork.It was a small place with 16-17 residents.I was not there long when the owner called for a staff meeting.Difficult as I worked nights but I showed up during the day to attend the meeting anyway despite being on that night.At the meeting the matter of missing stock was brought.Long story short I volunteereed to do the daily stock take.This did not go down well with a woman who worked the day shift and had worked there twenty years or more.I was sure it was her who was stealing stuff but had no proof.The woman decided to iniate a programme of bullying against me.The usual snide remarks and leaving the place a mess to increase my work load.Were it a man I would have decked him and that would be that but as I said it was a woman.This went on for months.Food was continually being stolen as were medications and cigarettes belonging to the residents.I did report it but to no avail.Not only did I work there but I also took it on myself to entertain them by have singing sessions and long chats.Just generally being my nice self.Finally I had enough and told the boss I quit.Two days after I left an elderly gentleman who I was friendly with hung himself from the staircase and was discovered by the woman who had forced my resignation.(con't)
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