Aide charged with sexually assaulting elderly woman in nursing home
BURNSVILLE, Minn. – A 53-year-old nursing home aide has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman under his care in a Burnsville facility.
Now, the victim's sister is speaking out about how the assault was discovered, and her action against the company that owns the facility.
Christine Mulcahy says it was just over five years ago that her sister suffered a massive stroke and was forced to make one of the toughest decisions of her life.
"To put her into a facility where you have to trust others to hopefully give the quality of care that you would as a family member," Mulcahy said. "Unfortunately, in this case, that trust was broken."
For privacy reasons, Mulcahy's sister will only be identified in this story as K.P.
Mulcahy says it wasn't until recently that she suspected something was off with K.P.'s care at Regent of Burnsville. The 75-year-old victim had been living at the facility since 2018 and had suffered a stroke, leaving her partially paralyzed. She also had dementia, anxiety and depression, documents say.
"There was an instance where… broken ribs sent her to the hospital, and what my sister told me versus what I was hearing from the faculty were two different things," Mulcahy said. "My sister does suffer from dementia, so I can't always 100% know what she's telling me is really what happened."
To help provide more certainty, and another layer of protection, Mulcahy made the decision to put a camera in her sister's room. She notified the facility's administrator and had the camera installed during a holiday visit.
"The camera was placed on Christmas Day, and within 48 hours, I watched the video in the evening and was horrified by what I saw," Mulcahy said. "I never expected to see what I saw. I was looking for things missing in care, and witnessed the sexual assault."
The video captured an aide, identified as John Akonkoh, "fondling [K.P.'s] genitals" in the morning and again in the evening. A nurse performed a sexual assault examination on Dec. 28, 2022, and Akonkoh was arrested that day while working at the facility.
Akonkoh is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, for which he could face a maximum of 30 years in prison if he's convicted.
"I couldn't believe it. I was horrified. It was heartbreaking. You feel guilt as a family member, that you have your family here and this happened to them," Mulcahy said, adding that she's uncertain whether or not her sister is aware of what took place. "She definitely shows fear of caregivers there, some caregivers, and there are different things she says to me that makes me leery that she maybe is aware. I don't know, truly."
The abuse of vulnerable adults in Minnesota may not be that uncommon. WCCO News spoke with Kari Benson, executive director of the Minnesota Board on Aging.
"The Minnesota Abuse Reporting Center does receive calls for potential abuse, suspected maltreatment of vulnerable adults. Every month, the number is on average about 4,600 reports," Benson said. "Those are reports of suspected maltreatment, and that includes abuse, neglect and financial exploitation."
Benson says when it comes to suspected abuse, it's important for families to trust their instincts.
"If they sense that something is not quite right, if something has changed…they should really trust their gut, trust their instinct and really make that call," she said.
A spokesperson for Cassia, the company that owns the facility, released the following statement about the allegations:
We are heartbroken about this report and our hearts go out to our resident and the family. Giving residents the dignity and respect they deserve is the foundation of everything we do and is expected of every employee. Our commitment to resident safety is based on extensive background checks and a strong abuse prevention program that does not tolerate abuse of any kind. In addition to collaborating with local authorities, we have initiated our own internal investigation, reviewed all safety policies and procedures extensively and retrained staff members. We have cooperated fully with the authorities to determine exactly what happened. At this time we cannot discuss more specifics due to privacy regulations.
Mulchay has filed a lawsuit against the facility, hoping to find answers to what happened, and hold the facility accountable.
"I'm just angry that it happened and I don't wanna see this happen to anyone else," Mulchay said. "Just be diligent, be aware. Don't assume that everything is going well because you're told that things are fine."
Mark Kosieradski, Mulchay's lawyer, says there are many questions that need answers.
"Sexually abusing her multiple times in one day and nobody's watching the ship. Why weren't there two people? Why is it that it was able to occur? What were the circumstances that led up to it? Why wasn't anybody watching? Was this really the first time?" Kosieradski said. "You put in a camera and within 48 hours, we have two instances of sexual abuse? I'm not a big believer in coincidences."
Mulchay says despite the incident and legal action, her sister remains in the facility.
"I have looked at other facilities, but she is a high-care need, and other facilities aren't anxious to take people with high cares," she said. "But I watch that camera every day. Every day. I would encourage anyone who has someone in a facility like this to have a camera. Otherwise you don't really know what's going on."
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There are several resources for victims. Here are a few:
Advocacy Agencies
Sexual Offense Services (SOS - Ramsey County)
Sexual Violence Center (SVC - Hennepin County)
Aurora Center (U of MN)
360 Communities (Dakota County)
Hope Center (Rice County)
Canvas Health (Washington County)
Alexandra House (Anoka County)
General Sites for information related to sexual assault and resources throughout Minnesota
Rape Help Minnesota
Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
General Sexual Assault Websites
Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN)
National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC)
