Correctionville Specialty Care Rape Suspect Had Prior Complaints

A female caregiver employed by a nursing home in Audubon allegedly filed a complaint with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (DIAL) last spring. This alleged complaint described a male co-worker’s disturbing behavior towards her and other female co-workers at the Friendship Home in Audubon.

According to this and other complaints, the male co-worker sent photos to several of his female colleagues that showed him masturbating. He also sent a recorded video of another co-worker while she was caring for a resident. He sent invites to some of his female colleagues at the facility to come out to his car. A common thread in these complaints was that he kept a bottle of Seagram’s Crown Royal in his vehicle.

Prior Incident Allegedly Occurred at Correctionville Specialty Care

Fast forward to another complaint at a different nursing home against this same individual. The alleged victim in this case was a female resident at the home who reported an incident involving a 36-year-old certified nursing assistant (CNA) employed by the facility. The woman, who does not have cognitive impairment, alleged in her complaint that the man took her out to his car at the facility. Once there, he invited her to drink from the bottle of Seagram’s Crown Royal he had with him in the car. He then reportedly forced the woman to perform oral sex on him.

Correctionville Specialty Care Evicted the Alleged Victim

Instead of reporting the incident, Correctionville’s parent company, Care Initiatives of West Des Moines, evicted the woman from the facility. Inspectors working the case discovered Care Initiatives allowed the alleged perpetrator to keep his job, allowing him to work in various nursing homes throughout Iowa.

Evidence

According to a news report, the worker who filed the complaint gave screenshots of texts the alleged suspect sent to her. These screenshots showed two images of male genitals and other images of a man holding a bottle of Seagram’s inside a car.

Coby Gust, Audubon police chief, confirmed other workers from the Friendship Home reported the man’s conduct to the Audubon agency. The complaints included the same photos, texts and other evidence. Despite multiple complaints and accompanying evidence, this individual’s nursing certification is still active, and he has not been charged in these reported incidents.

The Suspect Has a History

The CNA named in these complaints has not been named publicly since he has yet to be charged with anything. However, his prior history tells a disturbing story:

• 2014: Disorderly conduct, interference in official acts and intoxication in public
• 2017: Fired by Pete Howe Sanitation for keeping a bottle of Seagram’s Crown Royal in his work car.
• 2018: Received his CNA – the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services cleared this man to work in care facilities
• 2022: This man had a temporary protective order placed against him after he allegedly beat a woman and then threatened her.
• 2022: The same month, a police officer reported seeing the man repeatedly strike another man on the ground. This man again received charges for disorderly conduct by violent behavior. He was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. These charges were later dropped when the man agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge.

How Was This Man Able To Continue To Repeat His Behavior?

As for the Friendship Home complaint, Gust said the complaint just “fell off the radar…” and the man just seemed to “disappear.”

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, which helps provide background checks on potential candidates for licensed health care facilities authorized this man to work in the state. DHHS spokesperson Alex Carfrae declined to respond on their department’s authorization.

As a general rule, Carfrae stated that DHHS generally considers what position the candidate is seeking, the time since the last known offense, the number and severity of prior offenses and the likelihood the individual is to repeat a prior offense.

The Iowa Dispatch tried to reach out to the man for comment, but he did not respond to any of the multiple texts and phone calls they attempted over a period of a week.