Facility probed over handling of mentally disabled residents

LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Louisiana Department of Health says a Lake Charles school for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities failed to protect its residents from sexual assault and physical abuse.

The American Press reports the agency says those failures show Robinswood isn’t complying with federal and state requirements for nursing homes that participate in Medicare or Medicaid programs.

In October, a direct care aid at the school was accused of sexually assaulting a student in 2017. He was fired months later and charged with first-degree rape. Three other school workers were later charged accessory-after-the-fact to first-degree rape.

The agency says Robinswood also repeatedly failed to stop one resident from beating another.

Robinswood says it has developed a plan to correct the identified issues, including training workers on how to identify abuse.

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Information from: American Press, http://www.americanpress.com