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32-year-old certified nursing assistant Falo Kane has been accused of sexually assaulting several elderly and disabled patients at four different nursing homes in the Clearwater area. Kane was arrested on September 16 and charged with four counts of sexual battery of the physically helpless. On September 18, police added three additional counts. These charges go back as far as 2016.
These charges involve six victims and police believe there could be others out there.
In the first complaint, Kane is accused of sexually assaulting a patient on September 5 at the Advanced Care Center on North Fairwood Avenue. Detectives questioned him regarding this allegation and say he confessed to that sexual assault and three others.
This questioning led police to investigate an alleged sexual assault from May 13, 2016 at Comprehensive Health Care Facility on Palmetto Street. Kane has also been charged with sexually assaulting a patient in August of the same year at the Clearwater Center on Turner Street.
The fourth charge is from an alleged sexual assault from March 25, 2019. In that case, police say Kane sexually assaulted a woman in a wheelchair at Glen Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center on Pine Street.
On the day of his first arrest, Kane reportedly wrote an apology letter addressed to all four of these victims before he was booked at the county jail.
Police then learned of another three alleged sexual assaults, all from August 31 of this year. According to the arrest reports for those assaults, Kane is accused of assaulting a woman while changing her adult diapers, assaulting another while bathing her, and sexually assaulting a third who was incapacitated after taking the sleep medication Ambien.
Police have reached out to all of Kane's former employers to see if there are other victims out there. He also worked at Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor and was arrested in May of 2018 after a patient accused him of inappropriate touching.
Anyone with information regarding Kane or other incidents has been encouraged to call Clearwater police at (727) 562-4242.
Sexual abuse in nursing homes is a nationwide problem, with reports of employees abusing patients in several states. Attorney contributor Michael Haggard represents victims of sexual abuse in civil lawsuits and has offered to share some of his thoughts on the legal rights of nursing home abuse victims and their families:
Our elderly loved ones and neighbors are some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. Those who live in nursing homes deserve to be treated with respect and care, but unfortunately, this does not always happen. Our nation's nursing homes have major problems with abuse and neglect of their residents.
Nursing homes must do everything they can to ensure that their employees are honorable and trustworthy people. When a nursing home employee is arrested for abusing residents, the nursing home where the abuse occurred should also be investigated to determine if they failed in their legal duty to protect their residents. If an investigation finds that the abuse happened because of negligence, the victims and their families may have grounds for a lawsuit against the nursing home.
If you or a loved one is a survivor of nursing home sexual abuse, our attorneys are prepared to help your family fight for justice. You can learn more about your legal options in a free consultation with one of our experienced sexual abuse victims lawyers.
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