Winchester House sued for negligence

An 82-year-old former Wildwood woman is suing Winchester House in Libertyville for negligence that she says led to her sexual abuse.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Lake County court on behalf of Betty Christensen, an Alzheimer's patient at the county-run nursing home.

It alleges staff did nothing to prevent Duane Stapher, a former boarder at Christensen's Wildwood home, from visiting her without family members' approval, fondling and sexually abusing her on multiple occasions before Oct. 15, 2006.

Stapher, 64, was charged and pleaded guilty Sept. 6 to sexually abusing Christensen, and was placed on probation for four years.

Christensen's family wanted to wait until the criminal case was resolved before filing a civil suit, said Matthew Dudley, Christensen's attorney of Libertyville.

"They were outraged when they found out that this happened," Dudley said. "The goal of the Christensen family is to try and prevent this from occurring again. And they hope it doesn't happen to anybody else."

Lake County administrators are aware of the lawsuit but declined to comment.

"There are two sides to every story," said Jennie Khoen, county spokeswoman. "We have not had an opportunity to review the complaint. It would be premature to comment at this time."

Christensen, who receives public aid, can't afford to live anywhere other than Winchester House, he said.

The complaint seeks more than $50,000 in damages.

The lawsuit accuses Winchester House of violating state law protecting nursing home residents from neglect and abuse.

Dudley said standard practice for allowing visitors for dementia and Alzheimer's patients should be with family or a guardian's consent.

He said Stapher's name was never placed on an approved visitors list, but he was allowed to see Christensen beyond regular visiting hours without her family's knowledge.

An Illinois Department of Public Health investigation found Winchester House administrators failed to notify in a timely manner the state or family members of Stapher's inappropriate behavior witnessed by staff.

The department investigated interactions Stapher had with other nursing home residents and came to similar conclusions. Its report found no documentation to show if the administration was aware of staff concerns and observations, or if it investigated Stapher's behavior before Oct. 15, 2006.

After that report, Winchester House took corrective measures and conducted numerous in-house staff training sessions on residents' rights, abuse and abuse reporting, Khoen said.

"Winchester House continues to provide this training to employees upon their hire and annually thereafter," she said.

In Christensen's case, Dudley claims the damage had already been done.

"It was having a negative effect on her ability to function, which was already significantly diminished," he said.