The Wentworth Manor,
(Brenda Strafford Foundation),
5709 14th Ave SW Calgary, AB.
Tel. 403 686 8771

An agreed statement of facts shows Cesar Guzman, a caregiver at the Wentworth Manor, was found by a nurse at about 3:45 AM on July 24, 2005 at the Wentworth Manor. He was leaning over his victim and holding her arms down while attempting to have sex with her while she struggled and yelled for him to stop.

The admitted rapist immigrated from Peru in 1998. He was sentenced on June 2/06 for a maximum sentence of 18 months incarceration.

This 83 lb. woman who was unable to care for herself, dress herself, due to dementia had suffered severe, unexplained bruising, her pelvis was broken twice about two months apart. On one occasion, was found unclothed (naked) on the bathroom floor, she suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung while in care at the Wentworth Manor, a bruise under her eye. The elder also suffered some vaginal bleeding described as “similar to a menstrual period”. Other elder females on this dementia ward also suffered vaginal bleeding.

Her family, which was desperate to protect the mother, had for months requested a bed alarm. They had also offered to purchase and monitor camera equipment but senior staff of the facility disallowed all protection of this vulnerable person. Finally after half a year a bed alarm was installed.

The first night that the alarm (bed sensor) was installed, Guzman was “caught”. The alarm rang at the RN’s desk. She ran down to the elder’s room and found Cesar Guzman attacking this frail, dependent elder. The terrified 86 year old woman was heard to be shouting,

“Get away from me you bugger”

Guzman did not deny the assault to the RN. He had shut off the bed alarm at the bedside, but the alarm rang at the nursing station. Guzman was sent home. Family were not called until noon.

The Administrator of the Facility, Bev.Routledge, RN, was quoted last February as stating,

“I don’t know what else we could have done”

Indeed.

Following the sexual assault, the victim was bathed, her bed linen and night attire laundered and she was put back to bed. To date there have been no charges laid against the staff of Wentworth for interference with a criminal investigation. The family has been denied access to the nursing file, unless the physician is present.

The Protection For Persons In Care Act requires:

Section 5(1)

Every agency has a duty to protect the clients it serves from abuse and to maintain a reasonable level of safety for its clients.

A complaint has been made to the Protection for Persons in Care against:

• The Wentworth Manor, (Brenda Strafford Foundation) et al,
• The physician
• The Administrator,
• The Director of Care
• The Ward RN

It is difficult to believe that one individual could have suffered such severe injuries in a care facility which allegedly provides safe haven to vulnerable persons. She is now living in another elder care facility and has suffered no further injuries.

Abuse Registry

Media Information

Cesar Guzman, 71, a former caregiver, who pleaded guilty to charges of rape of a vulnerable, elderly woman at the Wentworth Manor care home is to be sentenced in Calgary Court on April 26/06, Queens Bench, Ct. Rm # 207
@ 2:00 PM. Guzman had worked in other Calgary elder care facilities

Rex Ongee Okumu, 40, who is a suspect in an alleged attack on a disabled senior will stand trial for rape in Calgary Court on Monday, June 26/06. Okumu who is out on bail pending trial, was arrested after police received a complaint about an attack on a woman in a seniors residence by a caregiver.

We are again MAKING A LOUD CALL for an
Alberta wide Registry
which will list those who abuse, neglect and prey on the vulnerable elderly.

“Many nursing homes have become dangerous places
largely because they are
under staffed and under regulated”

TIME magazine, Fatal Neglect” October 27, 1997 Vol. 150 No 17

Tags: Cesar Guzman, Protection for Persons in Care Act, Wentworth Manor