By Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch

The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says it is still investigating the alleged rape of an Iowa nursing home resident who was subsequently evicted and dumped at a homeless shelter.

It’s not clear whether the criminal investigation is focused entirely on the reported rape or includes how the resident was treated by the care facility in the days that followed the alleged incident.

“It’s an ongoing investigation and at this point, an arrest has not been made,” Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan said Monday. “That doesn’t mean there won’t be an arrest. It’s just that the investigation is still ongoing. There’s no new information to share at this time.”

State nursing home inspectors say a female resident of Correctionville Specialty Care complained in October that a male certified nurse aide had forced her to perform a sex act on him and had sent her a video of him pleasuring himself. The woman allegedly provided sheriff’s office personnel with a copy of that video.

According to state inspectors, the care facility retaliated against the woman by evicting her from the home on short notice and then dumping her at a homeless shelter with no advance notice to the shelter and without her medical records.

The company that owns and manages the home, Care Initiatives of West Des Moines, has said that it investigated the “allegations of inappropriate behavior between a team member and a prior resident and that the “involved parties are no longer employed by Care Initiatives.”

According to state inspectors, the alleged rape victim is not cognitively impaired but was being treated for numerous physical issues such as lung cancer, heart failure, high blood pressure, diabetes and anxiety. State records indicate that on Nov. 1, deputies from the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office interviewed the woman about the allegations of sexual abuse.

The woman allegedly told deputies that on one particular evening in the first or second week of October, she had gone outside to smoke a cigarette and a male aide offered to let her smoke in his car. He then pushed her wheelchair to his vehicle, which was parked close to a stand of trees along the parking lot. Once inside the vehicle, the aide allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him while seemingly making a video recording of the encounter on his phone.

Afterward, the woman told authorities, she went directly to her room, spoke to no one, and the two never discussed the incident.

A dietary aide later told inspectors the woman informed her and a colleague of the incident, which they then reported to the home’s administrator. The administrator allegedly suspended the accused aide, who denied any sexual activity had taken place, and then confronted the alleged victim, accusing her of providing sexual favors to the staff in return for cigarettes – an allegation the resident denied.

Within hours, the administrator allegedly informed the resident she had to leave. A nurse aide who worked at the home told inspectors the administrator yelled at the resident and gave her 30 minutes to pack up her belongings in preparation for her eviction.

The next day, on Oct. 25, the woman was dropped off at a homeless shelter. The shelter employee told inspectors that within hours of the woman being dropped off, they had to call 911 due to her shaking, falling, and appearing unstable. The next day, the resident returned to the shelter from the hospital and a friend came and picked her up.

Corporate time sheets allegedly confirmed the accused aide “continued to work with a vulnerable elderly population” in Care Initiatives facilities on Oct. 24, Oct. 28, and Oct. 30, according to state inspectors.

The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing has cited the home for failing to adequately investigate or report to the state the allegation of rape. The department has also cited the home for dropping off the alleged rape victim at a homeless shelter, calling it “retribution” for the report of rape.

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Clark Kauffman is deputy editor of the Iowa Capital Dispatch. He has worked during the past 30 years as both an investigative reporter and editorial writer at two of Iowa’s largest newspapers, the Des Moines Register and the Quad-City Times. He has won numerous state and national awards for reporting and editorial writing.

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com.