TULSA -- A former caretaker is guilty of raping multiple patients in rehabilitation and senior living centers.
Throughout most of 2015, Wesley Harrison was a caretaker at a facility in Tulsa and Broken Arrow. But no one could imagine what was going on behind closed doors.
Kenneth Elmore, Assistant District Attorney in Tulsa, said, "As their nurse, the pattern we observed was he would give them some form of either their medication or an extra dose of medication. While they were loopy and under the influence, he would start to sexually assault them and he would do so in a variety of ways."
Sometimes, Harrison would perform acts under the guise of medical treatment.
This led to multiple women coming forward and Harrison being charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and second degree rape.
Elmore explained, "Under the laws as they were in effect when this case was charged, it distinguished between rape by instrumentation where there was an injury or where there was not an injury. The difference was whether it was rape first degree or rape second degree."
As the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office investigated the case, they realized there was a flaw in the legal system and a change needed to be made.
Elmore said, "It was difficult sometimes to have to tell a woman or have a conversation with her. Why is the maximum 15 years? To say, in the eyes of the law, you weren't raped enough without an injury. It's awful and it's in decent."
So, the DA's office made the case to legislators.
The assistant district attorney said, "We were successful last year and this case was one of those that pushed us. When you look at what these women have to go through, sometimes 15 years isn't enough, but that's what we were left with."
If a case like this were to happen today, it would be tried as first degree rape instead of second degree, making the maximum sentence life instead of 15 years.
Harrison was also court ordered to never hold down a job again where he would be responsible for the care of others.
Forest Hill, one of the facilities where Harrison was working at the time of the abuse, sent 2 Works for You a statement.
It said, “We follow a rigorous screening and hiring process for every position at our facility. There were no
previous indications of threat. As soon as we were made aware of the situation, we reported it and
terminated employment.”
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