Rape trial underway for former nursing home aide
DELAWARE – A Delaware County prosecutor cast Patrick Osadebe as an opportunistic assailant who accosted an elderly patient with dementia and sexually assaulted her in a bathroom at an assisted living facility.
Osadebe's attorney, James Owen, described the March incident at the Inn at Bear Trail in Orange Township as a misunderstanding. He said his client is a hard-working, family man who was dedicated to often thankless work at the facility as a nurse's aide attending to the personal needs of those unable to care for themselves.
Opening statements began Tuesday before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge David Gormley in the jury trial for Osadebe, who is facing more than 10 years in prison if he's found guilty of rape and gross sexual imposition charges. The Dispatch was the only media in court on the first day of what is expected to be four days of testimony and arguments.
Osadebe, 51, a former aide at the 90bed facility on Monroe Drive off South Old State Road, is accused of having sex with the resident, in her 70s, on March 5. The incident occurred while while they were in a restroom at the facility, according to a criminal complaint filed by a detective with the Delaware County sheriff's office.
Surveillance video, eyewitness testimony and DNA evidence found on Osadebe and his underwear will be submitted as evidence, said Jaqueline Rapier, an assistant Delaware County prosecutor.
Rapier described the victim as nonverbal, unable to care for herself and requiring 24-hour care. She said extensive laboratory testing from two hospi
tals and analyzed by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will prove the defendant's guilt.
Osadebe fled his native Nigeria two years ago to reunite with his wife of 17 years and their three school-age children, Owen said. They had sought refugee status earlier.
His attorney said Osadebe worked multiple jobs while attending Franklin University in pursuit of a masters degree in cyber-security.
Owen didn't dispute the forensic evidence, but said that Osadebe rarely wore gloves while cleaning patients and likely transferred the woman's DNA to himself when he used the restroom.
The witness, a fellow aide who walked in on Osadebe and the woman, likely misunderstood what she saw while he was tending to the patient's bathroom needs, Owen said. He noted she had only a few seconds of view from an unclear angle before leaving to get a
supervisor.
“Could she see what she thought she saw, or was she mistaken?” Owen asked jurors.
“Did she yell ‘Help?' Did she come to her (the victim's) rescue? Did she come out screaming?” Owen asked. ‘It was virtually impossible for her (the aide) to see the things she claims she saw, or thought she saw.”
Officials at the Inn at Bear Trail called the Delaware County Sheriff's office for assistance, but only after more than four hours, Owen said.
Owen said that Osadebe did nothing to avoid detection as a guilty person might.
In testimony, the elderly patient's husband testified about their marriage and the toll that dementia had taken on their family. “She was like a prisoner in her own body,” he said. dnarciso@dispatch.com @Deannarciso