The sister of a mentally disabled man, who police say was sexually assaulted by a staffer at the Cote De Neige Home for Adults, is suing the home, accusing it of negligence for hiring the worker in spite of his criminal record. The suit is calling for $3.5 million in damages and claims that the facility and its’ owner, Rose Daniels Potter, failed to do their jobs in providing “reasonable care” when they hired Junious Boyd Batten as a certified nursing assistant. The facility “knew or should have known that (Batten) was unfit, unsuitable, untrustworthy, and incompetent for the position… and was likely to cause injury or harm to residents,” the lawsuit contends. It goes on to say that the home showed reckless disregard for the safety of its particularly “weak and helpless” residents.
Junious Boyd Batten, 40, is facing five forcible sodomy counts, three carnal-knowledge counts and one abuse and neglect count in incidents that officials say, “took place between late 2006 and mid-2007.” Batten also faces another carnal-knowledge count against another man and his trial date is set for mid- August.
The civil lawsuit included 13 criminal offenses that Batten was charged with before, or during the time he worked at the home. The facility claims they did a background check and were aware of Batten’s criminal history. However, they claim that there was no way of telling from the background check “that Batten could end up being accused of sexually assaulting the home’s residents. All previous counts against Batten were misdemeanors, and none was sex-related.” Moreover, the home claims they had no idea the abuse was going on and if they did they would have stopped it immediately. However, the woman filing suit would contend that if the home had not hired Batten in the first place or provided adequate supervision, then these awful acts could have been avoided.
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