For years the nursing home industry in this country has been the perfect breeding ground for everything from theft, physical abuse and neglect.  Each state has its own regulations and specific guidelines for ensuring the proper care of those who reside in these facilities.  Often, residents suffer from Alzheimer’s, dementia and other health problems that prevent them from protecting themselves.  Even when they can report an assault, it’s often their word against those whom they’ve accused.

This is what happened in Chicago earlier this year.  The nursing facility, unfortunately, was more interested in covering its own bases than protecting a 69 year old woman who was raped by a 21 year old man with severe mental problems.  The administrators of Maplewood Care insist the sex was consensual, despite the fact she suffers from dementia.  Further, the man has been described as aggressive, violent and sexually frustrated.  He’s also a convicted felon.

A nurse heard the woman crying and when she went into her room to check on her, she found the man in her bathroom on the phone with 911.  What made this situation even worse is the nursing home’s attempt to make the employees lie about what really happened.  The nursing home has been fined nearly $45,000 and the woman’s family is now suing for damages.  The family’s lawyer has said the man who’s been accused has a long history of violent and aggressive crimes, yet was still allowed to roam the halls freely, thereby putting every other patient at risk.  He was diagnosed years ago with several mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder.

He was arrested that same night and charged with rape, along with ten other felonies.

For years, there have been demands for major overhauls in the nursing home industry.  Unfortunately, these demands fall on deaf ears.  The laws in nearly every state simply aren’t sufficient.  Nurses and aides are spread too thin to properly look after those in their care.  Just as with other businesses, it’s all about the bottom line.  These management companies focus on nothing but the profits with little consideration towards the patients and their needs.

There’s no doubt properly caring for the elderly is challenging and those who choose geriatrics as their specialties possess a level of patience many of us can’t begin to understand.  Still, patience and skill can only go so far when one’s trying to care for many patients whose needs are constant and immediate.

In the meantime, the nursing home facility and its lawyers are refusing to comment due to it being an ongoing investigation.

We all know where we stand on abortion, right? And we all know that doctors have the right to refuse a woman an abortion for any reason at all. And, too, we all know this is heated and most likely the most controversial issue in human history.

Here’s what I didn’t know: pharmacists can refuse to fill birth control prescriptions, including the 72 hour pill that’s usually reserved for rape victims. Not only that, but pharmacies are at the mercy of the pharmacist when it comes to selling condoms and other birth control methods that don’t require a prescription. If birth control is against a pharmacist’s religious beliefs, he or she is protected under federal law should the pharmacist choose not to sell such products. In fact, there’s only one state, New Jersey, which must fill any prescriptions presented, regardless of one’s religious beliefs. How do we feel about this? If you’re pro-life and pro-contraception, does that make you a hypocrite? And even those with the strongest sense of religious restriction, can the distinction be made that allows rape victims access to the morning after pill? It just seems like an awful amount of power extended a pharmacist - power that affects other people’s lives. Where is the line drawn?

When did taking birth control go from being an act of a responsible adult to it almost feeling ignoble? And refusing to sell condoms is just insane. How long have we lectured the necessity? This goes far beyond birth control - it’s safe to say it comes down to life or death, yes?

Don’t get me wrong - I’m all for standing for what I believe in, but I’m also against procreation for the wrong reasons. So many religious faiths refuse to accept modern medicine to save lives and have a blind faith of “what’s meant to be will be”. It never occurs to many of these people that the very thing they swear by - solid and unswerving faith - is what has educated doctors and scientists as they created antibiotics that save lives. The answer is right there - and yet a solution coming in the form of modern medicine is not truly a lifesaving miracle.

It’s not a big deal to simply find a pharmacist whose religious beliefs don’t conflict with any prescriptions he’s asked to fill. That’s not the point. To me, the point is why someone would choose a career that will clearly be a conflict of his religious beliefs. Let’s be honest: you don’t see me seeking employment in a police department. I can assure you, I’m vehemently opposed to having a gun put into my face at some point.

When did we decide such acts as sodomy were OK in the name of hazing? Is it just me, or does it seem that more teenagers are becoming increasingly violent, especially with such sexual crimes as using broomsticks to sodomize younger kids? What’s even more disturbing is so many coaches and other so-called adult leaders are turning a blind eye to such cruelty.

A small town in Nevada is under fire because of its high school football team. During a training camp, many of the older players are accused of incredibly brutal, hateful and sickening sexual assaults on some of the younger players. This was all done in the name of hazing. Even after a coach walked into one of the cabins and witnessed this, the repercussions - if you can even call them repercussions - amounted to nothing more than gathering all the players - the accused and the victims - into one huddle and were told that if hazing was happening, they needed to “cut it out”. Then, this coach who has the audacity to refer to this as “bullying“, actually asked if anyone had been sexually assaulted. Are you kidding me? One boy, who I can only imagine the strength this kid had to muster, actually tried to raise his hand, only to be ridiculed by the other players. At that point, the coach chalked it up to nothing serious and excused the boys to carry on with their activities. Finally, after what I’m assuming were phone calls made to parents, the coaches were paid a visit by some of these parents demanding to know what was happening. It’s at this point the coaches once again called a team meeting and after finally getting some of the players to identify the rapists (yes - let’s call it what it is) immediately proceeded to kick them off the team and sent them home.

That’s the sugarcoated version. Here’s how I define it: several teenage boys, who clearly have definitive warning signs of the adults they are likely to become, took it upon themselves, justified it in their minds, and proceeded to rape several younger and weaker boys who are supposed to be their teammates. Usually, teammates on high school football teams are so protective of one another that their friendships and bonds extend into their adult lives and are lifelong relationships - there’s definitely a bond now…they should be co-defendents in a trial. Then, several adults who are supposed to be community leaders and should be playing a proactive role in these boys’ lives should now be charged as accomplices in the act of rape and sodomy and should be tried in a court, face severe prison sentences if they’re found guilty and should serve their time in the cells next to their former students.

Football season should not exist in this small town until these leaders can find a way to provide the solid leadership kids need outside of their families, the victims should be treated as such - they are rape victims and there should be hardcore counseling to address the fact these boys will forever be changed and will carry shame for the rest of their lives. They will deal with feelings of inadequacies because they will feel as though they couldn’t defend themselves - and most likely felt like it was necessary to prove these twisted loyalties to a football team and coaching staff that deserves NOTHING. They will forever wonder what they did to deserve it and will do one of two things in their own roles as parents: they will be so overprotective to the point of being unhealthy, or sadly, with the emotional trauma they are now forced to carry due to the crimes against them, they will know nothing about how to raise their own families and will possibly recoil at the thought of what we define as a normal life.

The coaches are too busy playing a major game of CYA, they refuse to take responsibility and are offended that it’s even been suggested they’ve failed miserably in such a trusted role. The small town is furious at the media for shining the light on this story, the football team, what’s left of it, has lost all of its games due to this scandal and even the girls ball teams are facing ridicule and harassment from opposing teams.

And just where does the passion for these young boys fall? No one seems to recognize that these entitled feelings and “how dare you invade our town” attitudes everyone is so interested in expressing and about how much this has been blown out of proportion is absolutely irrelevant. The town as a whole should be focusing these incredulous emotions towards the victims in their communities instead of adding further insult to such a heartbreaking injury.

Every day, technology via DNA testing, clears those wrongly convicted, determines parenthood and is used to identify victims of crime who cannot reveal their own identities.

Still, there are cases where innocence is proven through other methods.

In Canada, a woman accused a man of raping her and forcing her to consume drugs and alcohol nearly a year ago. This man had been in jail awaiting trial. This, as many rape accusations are, was a classic “he said/she said”. In cases that haven’t progressed through the judicial system long enough for there to be DNA results in the file, it’s very rare that charges are dismissed this early.

Of course, letters from the victim to the accused aren’t usually present either; and certainly not love letters announcing her pregnancy and how beautiful it will be to raise their child. But that’s just what happened in this particular case. The man turned over letters he’d received since his arrest that clearly cleared him of those charges. At first, the woman denied she’d written them and insisted they were forged and in a “Casey Anthony” moment, allowed it to move forward until they were actually in the courtroom before fessing up.

So now we’re looking at a wrongly accused man, wasted court time and lies a woman told. So what, if any, punishment should she face? It’s been suggested that she be charged with perjury and “mischief”. Mischief? I’m thinking charges should at least appear to sound as serious as what she’s done.

I have no idea if there are any mental issues she may have been diagnosed with, but I’m guessing that’s little consolation to this man who, although has been cleared, must now deal with the stigma of such a charge. Charges being dismissed isn’t synonymous with his name being cleared. At a minimum, this woman should be made to incur all legal costs - including this man’s attorney’s fees. Further, she should be made to repay all lost wages because of his time spent in jail and finally, she should be made to deal with whatever issues in her personal life that led her to accuse this man of rape. If drugs and alcohol were involved, she should be made to clean her life up. If there are diagnosed mental illnesses, she should be ordered to undergo psychological testing and made to follow any recommendations. And, yes, I am fully aware of the controversy regarding forcing people to treat disorders - whether physical or mental - when they have no desire to do so; however, when those desires to do nothing begin to affect anyone else, it’s a different story.

Those who cry wolf not only change the lives of the ones accused, but it forces efforts made by social structures, via police and aftercare for true rape victims, to continue the “one step forward, two steps back” cycle.