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Nursing home employee charged for alleged sexual assault on patient

CANTON, Mass. — A Rhode Island man has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a patient with dementia in a nursing home.

Frank Palin, age 67, was arrested Sunday by Canton Police and arraigned on Monday.

He's charged with a single count of indecent assault and battery on a person over age 65, stemming from an incident through his work with Old Colony Hospice.

The DA's office said Palin is a contract employee with Old Colony but was working as a nurse practitioner at Cornerstone at Canton, where the victim is a resident of the facility. She reportedly suffers from dementia and lives in the memory care unit at Cornerstone.

Palin's Facebook page says he's worked for Old Colony since 2012.

According to the police report, on May 19th, Palin showed up to Cornerstone without an appointment, asking and employee to unlock the secured facility where the victim stays.

According to authorities, the woman's children had installed a video camera inside her room, so they could check in on her, which helped them find out what was happening.

The 67-year-old was released on a $5,000 cash bail and ordered to stay away and have no contact with the victim or her family members and have no employment or volunteer work with the elderly or disabled. Palin was also ordered to stay away from the Old Colony Hospice and Cornerstone Facilities.

Palin is due back in court on July 30, 2018 for a pre-trial conference.

Bob Larkin, the president of Senior Living Residences, the management company in charge of operations at Old Colony Hospice and Cornerstone at Canton, issued the following statement on Friday afternoon:

"The alleged violation of a vulnerable elder is appalling beyond words. We support the victim's family and the police department in seeking criminal prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well being of our residents. The accused nurse practitioner was not an employee of our company; he worked for a third-party local hospice agency that has no contractual or other relationship to our assisted living community. Any questions about the individual's employment or exact duties should be directed to his employer, Old Colony Hospice in West Bridgewater, 321 Manley St, West Bridgewater, MA,  781-341-4145. Also please call the Canton Police for any information about the ongoing investigation. Please note, HIPAA patient privacy and confidentiality standards preclude me from providing specific information about any resident. "