Worker at Kent dementia-care facility charged with second-degree rape

King County prosecutors on Feb. 23 charged a 35-year-old Auburn man with second-degree rape for allegedly assaulting a 71-year-woman at a Kent dementia-care and assisted-living facility where he worked as a certified nursing assistant.

Douglas Benjamin McGregor is scheduled to be arraigned on the charge March 8 in King County Superior Court at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. McGregor remains in custody at the Regional Justice Center on $250,000 bail.

Kent Police arrested McGregor Feb. 19 for investigation of second-degree rape after administrators at the Weatherly Inn at Lake Meridian called 911 to immediately report an incident between McGregor and a woman resident at the facility, according to the charging papers. The Weatherly Inn is an assisted-living facility for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

An employee at the facility walked into the woman’s room the morning of Feb. 19 and saw McGregor standing over the woman with his pants unbuttoned and his genitals exposed.

McGregor told officers that while he was dressing the woman she tugged at his waist line and the button on his pants broke, according to charging papers. He said his genitals were exposed because he was not wearing underwear.

McGregor told officers that he did not assault the woman.

A son of the woman told detectives that his mother is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s and can communicate very little. He said his mother has lived at the facility for about three years and requires complete nursing care.

According to charging papers, prosecutors asked for the $250,000 bail because of McGregor’s “complete disregard of the victim’s condition and incapacity and of his responsibilities as her caregiver aptly demonstrates a threat to the safety of other vulnerable individuals in the community.”

McGregor had worked at the facility for about five months, said Kristi Knox, general manager at the Weatherly Inn at Lake Meridian, in a phone interview Monday.

“We were sick,” Knox said of the reaction to the incident. “We took immediate action and contacted the police.”

McGregor graduated from a state certified nursing assistant program last summer, had recommendations to be hired and a clean record, Knox said.

“I consider our community very safe,” Knox said. “This has put everyone on guard. But one bad apple does not mean the whole tree is bad.”

Knox said the Weatherly Inn at Lake Meridan has operated for more than 10 years in Kent.

The state Department of Health Web site showed Monday that McGregor received his state certification to be a nursing assistant on Jan. 15, 2010 with an expiration date of Jan. 24, 2011. The site listed his status as active.

The state DOH is investigating a complaint against McGregor filed by the state Department of Social and Health Services, wrote Allison Cook, spokeswoman for the state DOH, in an e-mail Monday. The investigation started Feb. 22, three days after police arrested McGregor for investigation of second-degree rape.

“Because the complaint is open, I can’t provide any additional details,” Cook wrote.

The state DSHS approves training programs and establishes the testing process for nursing assistants. The state DOH certifies nursing assistants, investigates complaints and can suspend or revoke certifications or licenses.

A nursing assistant can register with the state DOH and work at a nursing home, but must complete state training and testing to be a certified nursing assistant within 120 days from their first day of work, according to the state DSHS Web site.

A person must complete 85 hours of training and pass a competency evaluation test to be a certified nursing assistant, said Kendra Pitzler, program manager for the state DOH nursing assistant training program, in a phone interview Monday.