Shocking Neglect: Dementia Patient Sexually Assaulted Twice at Brookdale Senior Living

Disturbing Allegations Against Brookdale Senior Living

Ryan Har­ney has filed a law­suit against Brook­dale Senior Liv­ing Foun­da­tion in Fed­er­al Way, Wash­ing­ton, alleg­ing that the facil­i­ty failed to pro­tect his moth­er, Pamela Har­ney, from two sex­u­al assaults. Pamela, an 81-year-old demen­tia patient who uses a wheel­chair, was report­ed­ly assault­ed by anoth­er res­i­dent in May 2023.

Facility’s Controversial Response to Assaults

Accord­ing to the com­plaint, Brook­dale staff reviewed sur­veil­lance footage of the first assault and report­ed to the Wash­ing­ton Depart­ment of Social and Health Ser­vices (DSHS) that Pamela Har­ney “seemed to be ‘enjoy­ing’ her­self.” The facil­i­ty’s direc­tor alleged­ly told a DSHS inves­ti­ga­tor that the inci­dent was “mutu­al and not forced.”

Second Assault and Continued Negligence

Despite plac­ing the male res­i­dent on one-to-one mon­i­tor­ing after the first inci­dent, a sec­ond assault report­ed­ly occurred just days lat­er. Once again, Brook­dale claimed that Pamela Har­ney had con­sent­ed, despite her dimin­ished men­tal capac­i­ty due to dementia.

Legal Action and Discrimination Claims

Ryan Har­ney is suing Brook­dale for abuse against a vul­ner­a­ble adult, neg­li­gence, and sex and dis­abil­i­ty dis­crim­i­na­tion. The law­suit alleges that Pamela Har­ney’s sta­tus as a dis­abled woman was a sub­stan­tial fac­tor in the abuse she endured and that Brook­dale allowed to occur.

Family’s Shock and Disbelief

Ryan Har­ney expressed his dis­be­lief at the facil­i­ty’s response, stat­ing that his moth­er’s cog­ni­tive abil­i­ty was sim­i­lar to that of a tod­dler and that she was inca­pable of giv­ing con­sent. He told the Fed­er­al Way Mir­ror, “My jaw hit the floor. I had to ask them again to repeat them­selves because I could­n’t believe what I heard.”

Calls for Justice and Prevention

The law­suit seeks com­pen­sa­tion for dam­ages and demands a jury tri­al. Ryan Har­ney and his legal team hope that this legal action will ensure sim­i­lar inci­dents nev­er hap­pen to anoth­er res­i­dent at Brook­dale again.

#Elder­Abuse #Assist­edLiv­ingNe­glect