The Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators has fined the manager of Pomeroy Care Center for failing to protect its nursing home residents from a convicted sex offender.
According to a report by the Des Moines Register, Susan Juilfs, the nursing home administrator, was found guilty of professional incompetence. The board determined that Juilfs should have known about William Cubbage, a documented sex offender, and the threat he posed to other residents of the nursing home while he lived at the facility. Cubbage is accused of sexually assaulting another nursing home resident.
According to the report:
- Juilfs also allegedly told other employees of the facility that they would be fired if they disclosed that Cubbage and another sex offender were living at the facility;
- Juilfs has agreed to pay a $500 civil penalty, as well as notify the board of any regulatory violations in any care facility she manages over the next year and train nursing home workers on how to deal with registered sex offenders;
- Before moving to the care center, Cubbage lived in the Iowa Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders from 2002 to November 2010. He had been convicted of four sex offenses: committing lascivious acts with a child, indecent contact with a child, and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse;
- Upon release from the facility, Cubbage was admitted to the Pomeroy Care Center. In August 2011, a visitor to the nursing home reported seeing Cubbage fondling another resident in her bed as she called out for help;
- The victim died in October 2012, and her family has filed a lawsuit against Pomeroy Care Center for failing to take necessary steps to protect her;
- The family of the victim is also suing the Iowa Department of Human Services for failing to prepare and regulate nursing homes against sex offenders;
- Pomeroy Care Center has been fined $10,000 by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals;
- Cubbage admitted to the assault, and has been recommitted to the state’s sex offender unit at the Iowa Department of Corrections’ Oakdale facility.
The Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm represents clients in cases involving catastrophic injury caused by nursing homes and other care facilities that fail to provide proper care, including the failure to protect vulnerable adults from sexual abuse. If your loved one has been harmed due neglect or abuse in a care facility, take action now and contact the Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm online or call us toll-free at (877) 552-2873 to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
