May 21, 2009 11:52 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: DCF Reviewing Nursing Home Rape
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Haunted by the face of a man who raped her 77-year-old mother, and the pain it seared onto the soul of a family for seven long years, Sandra Banning has been trying to get someone, anyone, in Florida government to listen.
Her beloved mother was raped by another resident who was placed by the state of Florida to live in her nursing home. He's a man the state had described as "vulnerable" and "in need of protection," and a man the
CBS4 I-Team uncovered had been arrested 58 times.
"They locked that monster away with my mother where she had no escape," Sandra Banning told
CBS4 Chief I-Team Investigator Michele Gillen.
Within 48 hours of our investigation airing, Banning's wait for someone to listen was over. George Sheldon, the Secretary of the Department of Children and Families (DCF), watched every minute of her mother's story with Gillen, and the trail of tears left in the wake of Ivey Edwards' path.
"When you see that story, what comes to mind?" Gillen asked Secretary Sheldon.
"To a large extent outrage," Sheldon responded. "I mean it is our responsibility. I am not one of those people who say it's not our job."
It was at DCFs request that the career criminal ended up in the same nursing home as Banning's mother. The
CBS4 I-Team uncovered documents that show "DCF staff went in front of a judge who determined that Edwards was a vulnerable adult who was in need of protection." It's the same department that is supposed to be protecting the elderly in there.
Sheldon reacted to the
I-Team's discoveries with lightening speed.
"Frankly, I think the department dropped the ball on this case. I really do," said Sheldon.
Sheldon has already taken the step of ordering a review.
"I also want a thorough evaluation of where this gentleman is right now," said Sheldon.
Following Edwards' arrest for the rape of Ms. Banning's mother, he was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to the state hospital in Chattahoochee. He was released in 2005. When the
I-Team checked with DCF before the investigation was broadcast, the response was that "he was no longer the department's responsibility and the state does not know where he is."
"Do you care tonight where he is Mr. Secretary?" Gillen asked Sheldon.
"I do, and I think the people of Florida want to know," he replied.
Sheldon reacted to the chilling discovery of the expert the
I-Team brought to South Florida to help us trace the scope of the silent problem here.
"There are 80 registered sex offenders in Florida Nursing homes," said Wes Bledsoe, founder of A Perfect Cause
"I have asked for the folks in our information technology office to begin doing the same kind of review that this man has done to assure we at least know where sexual predators are and whether they are in facilities. If he can find 80, and he did that with public information, we ought to be able to do the same," said Sheldon.
Within hours, Gillen shared the news with Sandy Banning via satellite from Jacksonville. Gillen explained that Sheldon ordered an investigation into what happened to her mother, into how Edwards was placed in the nursing home with her, and what has happened to him today.
"Thank God. Thank God. Anything that he can do, anything that I can do to help him I will be his instrument. We have to find him and others like him. I am glad that someone is taking action to make the change. The change that is so sorely needed," said Banning.
That change begins with taking steps to do criminal background checks on residents and not keeping the results a secret. For Sheldon, it's time for change.
"Frankly, it's unacceptable. We have got to do a better job. And now we are working to bring the cost of background screening to make it affordable for nursing homes. I understand people are saying there is a high cost of this but the cost of doing nothing is even higher."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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