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<v ->Harvey &amp; Foote Law Firm handles cases</v>

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involving sexual abuse and physical abuse

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of residents in facilities.

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It's unfortunately something that is relatively common

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but often is under reported

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and not necessarily known about

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in the way that it should be.

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<v ->A lot of our cases also deal with physical abuse,</v>

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resident to resident,

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or we've had cases where an employee to a resident,

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as well as sexual abuse by another resident

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or by another employee.

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At first blush, you might think,

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oh, that is one specific employee doing something bad.

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But usually when you look more into the cases,

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it's a facility

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that didn't do their proper background checks.

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<v ->Many of these cases deal with very sensitive topics,</v>

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and so they do not get reported or investigated

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as much as they should be.

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Many times also, the nursing home is very concerned

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about being criminally liable

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for its misconduct in these circumstances,

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and so they do not always share their suspicions

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of physical or sexual abuse

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with a resident's family members.

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Sometimes it can be difficult to prove

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that your loved one was physically or sexually assaulted,

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especially if you don't learn about it

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until long after the fact of the assault.

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We look to the medical records themselves.

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Typically, those are very good sources

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of objective information

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which will be able to let us know

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about the injuries that the person sustained,

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and also any sort of immediate changes in their behavior

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which might be attributable to having been assaulted.

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Family members often feel some degree of guilt

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that this is a facility where they trusted

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that their loved one is going to be kept safe,

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and instead, there's been this giant breach of trust

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and this type of horrific incident has occurred.

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But the reality is that nursing homes exist

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to provide a service,

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so while I understand that there is often a degree of guilt

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associated with these types of claims,

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I don't think that it's a necessary component,

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because you should be allowed to trust them

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when they say they're gonna do their job.

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(gentle music)