Jamie, who is blind, non-verbal, severely developmentally disabled, and dependent on caregivers to fulfill her basic needs, was raped and impregnated in her own home early this year, allegedly by a nursing assistant. The abuse may never have been discovered had she not conceived and subsequently miscarried. Worse yet, it may not have been the first time Jamie was sexually assaulted by a caregiver during the more than two decades she spent under the care of state-funded Integrated Living Services in Kent, Washington.
In February of 2006, suspicious bruises on Jamie's groin as well as her insistence on stripping naked and laying spread-eagle on her bed, a behavior she hadn't previously displayed, alarmed caregivers. A male nursing assistant had filled in for recent night shifts caring for Jamie. He was fired shortly thereafter for "poor performance." A rape exam conducted at least three days after the male caregiver had contact with Jamie revealed no physical evidence, and police dropped the investigation without ever interviewing the male nursing assistant.
After the first suspected sexual assault, Jamie's legal guardian, Bessie, asked that male caregivers not be permitted to work alone with Jamie. Integrated Living services refused.
Two years later, Jamie became moody and stopped having regular menstrual periods. Her caregivers took her to a doctor, who referred her to a nearby hospital for a gynecological exam, for which Jamie would need to be sedated. Jamie never saw a gynecologist.
In March, 2008, Jamie began moaning and bleeding heavily. She was admitted to the emergency room at Auburn Medical Center, where doctors discovered that she was miscarrying. Kent police and Jamie's guardian were notified.
Doctors collected DNA evidence during Jamie's miscarriage, which was sent to the state crime lab. On June 17th, police found a match: Joseph Thurura, a Kenyan immigrant who'd worked in the United States as a registered nursing assistant for two years. Thurura was arrested the same day. He pleaded not guilty to second-degree rape, and remains in jail awaiting trial.
After Jamie miscarried, Bessie removed her from the apartment she shared with other adults with developmental disabilities and from the care of Integrated Living Services. She now resides at Fircrest Residential Habilitation Center.
Bessie's decision angered Integrated Living Services program director Greg Miller, who fired off an irate email to the Department of Social and Human Services. "It is an incredibly violent emotional action for both (Jamie) and our staff," Miller wrote. He said the agency "has taken the correct steps and actions" at every point.
Jamie's troubles didn't end with her miscarriage. She has been diagnosed with gestational trophoblactic disease, a rare condition in which clusters of tumors grow from placental cells during or following a pregnancy. She is now undergoing treatment.
The abuse Jamie suffered has raised questions in Washington State and nationally about the prevention of sexual abuse of vulnerable adults. A ballot initiative increasing training requirements for caregivers was recently passed, but what of issues like Integrated Living Services' refusal to stop assigning male caregivers to solo shifts with Jamie? How can abuse in nursing homes and other residential treatment facilities be halted when many patients are unable to communicate verbally in order to expose an abuser? How long might Jamie have suffered had she not become pregnant?
"We have to find a better way to protect people," says Bessie. "The public needs to know what's going on."
Related: Teacher Accused of Tying Autistic Kids to Chairs
Filed under: abuse, sexual abuse, developmental disability, neglect, assault, nursing home abuse, crime, residential treatment, bessie, jamie, rape, washington state
