Man ‘sexually abused’ wife stricken by Alzheimer’s
A POLITICIAN has gone on trial accused of sexually a busi ng hi s dementiasuffering wife in a care home. Donna Lou Rayhons had moved into the home early last year after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. But she and her husband Henry, 78, maintained their sexual relationship there.
Staff warned Rayhons that his wife’s mental state meant she could not consent to sex and she was moved to a shared room at the request of her daughter last May 23.
That night however her new roommate raised the alarm and told staff she had heard suspicious noises after Rayhons entered the room and pulled over a curtain.
The room-mate told staff: ‘I’m not stupid. I know what was going on.’
Staff called police and Mrs Rayhons was taken to hospital. No signs of abuse were found but prosecutors said they later found DNA evidence proving sex had taken place.
Charges were filed against Rayhons, who is a f armer and prominent Iowa state politician, following the death of his wife last August at the age of 79.
At the opening of his trial this week, prosecutors outlined how Mrs Rayhons’ mental health had deteriorated. She had been found washing her hands in dirty toilet water, believed her first husband was still alive and could not remember how to eat a sandwich.
Dr John Brady, the medical director at Concord Care Center, told the court in Garner, Iowa, that if she responded to hugs and affection from her husband it was a ‘primal response’ not an informed decision.
Staff at the nursing home described Mrs Rayhons as being ‘in her own little world’ and Mr Brady said she had scored zero on a standard test for Alzheimer’s. A score below eight counts as severe impairment.
Defence lawyer Joel Yunek said Rayhons had engaged in sex with his wife, but not on May 23.
He said on that night Rayhons had prayed with her. The warning from staff about consent had come eight days earlier, on May 15.
Mr Yunek said: ‘She was the love of his life. It was kind of an Indian summer.’ He said sex was ‘not unnatural’ for the elderly and dementia patients had ‘good days and bad days’.
The accused’s family released a statement soon after he was charged which said: ‘Donna’s location did not change Dad’s love for Donna nor her love for him. It did not change their marriage relationship.
‘And so he continued to have contact with his spouse i n the nursing home; who among us would not.’
The jury in the case, which is being closely watched by doctors and dementia charities, will have to deci de whether Mrs Rayhons was mentally capable of consenting to sex.
Experts say it is rare, and possibly unprecedented, for criminal charges to be laid in such circumstances.
If convicted, Rayhons, who has been a Republican state representative since 1997, faces a ten-year jail term. The father of four and his late wife – both widowed – met in 2007 while singing in a church choir.
‘She could not give her consent’