LA MESA, Calif. — Warning: Please note this article and video contains mentions of rape and sexual assault that can be disturbing.
What happened in Lisa Huntsman's nursing home room one night in January of 2020 still haunts her to this day, now nearly 2 years later.
Huntsman says nursing assistant Matthew Fluckiger preyed on the most vulnerable women in nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. It happened to her when she was a patient at Parkway Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation in La Mesa recovering from a leg wound from surgery. She also had complications from shoulder surgery and could only use one arm.
She says Fluckiger came into her room that night, angry because she had given herself a bath. She says she did so because Fluckiger gave her the creeps.
It was on that night that he sexually assaulted her.
"He ripped my blanket right off of me and right into certain areas of me and started touching me in places that he never should have. I couldn't fend him off because I had a bad arm and a messed-up leg," said Huntsman.
She says a nurse walked in and asked her why she was crying, but Fluckiger threatened her to stay quiet so she did, at least to the nurse.
Later she found the strength to call 911. She told them she was in the facility because of her leg. She says she specifically told them she did not have dementia or Alzheimer’s and she needed help. But Fluckiger came back and she says he sexually assaulted her a second time. This time, she says she scratched the back of his neck as hard as she could. When he left her room, she again called 911 again. This time, the dispatcher told her the police were there.
Fluckiger had been accused of sexual assault before at other facilities that he worked at. The first accusation was made as far back as 2017. He has several citations from the California Department of Public Health.
Earlier this year, a jury convicted him of sexually assaulting Huntsman.
“He's in prison, but so am I. I have to live with it, every day, every single day of my life I think about it, it doesn't go away.”
He will now be sentenced for assaulting two other women at San Diego nursing homes. He faces 25 years to life.
Huntsman has a message for Fluckiger.
"I don’t know how to address you other than being a monster to so many vulnerable people who had no voice," she said.
"The women you sexually abused, raped, sodomized, and conducted horrific acts had no voice and no means for help."
Tony Chicotel is an attorney fighting for nursing home reform.
He says a basic criminal background check is all that’s required by the state for employment at one of these facilities.
“The state system is set up that each case is investigated individually and they're not connecting a lot of the dots.”
Chicotel says as long as a person has no convictions, they can bounce from place to place.
“There seems to be an opportunity for serial predators to move from facility to facility and they just seem to move on to the next one.”
Chicotel also believes because of the huge shortage of caregivers, facilities are short-cutting a lot of the processes in places to vet new workers. In fact, he says this is one of the most dangerous times for residents in terms of their care. Requirements for training that were waved during the pandemic haven’t been implemented again.
So what can you do if you need a nursing home or assisted living facility for a loved one? Chicotel says to visit at night or on weekends. And to make sure there is sufficient staff to meet the residents' needs who live there.
* Link to California Nursing Home Reform website: California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) – Long Term Care Justice & Advocacy
Chicotel says they may not have sexual assault citations because they are rarely reported. But he says to look for citations due to neglect of care. That’s a sign that the facility is understaffed and employees do not have a lot of oversight.
https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/community-care-licensing/facility-search-welcome
Parkway Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in La Mesa. Their administrator did not respond to our requests for comment and address what safeguards, if any, administrators plan to put into place.
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