Failure to Protect

The family of Alexis Ellinger sued the Arabella Health Wellness of Grand Bay for failing to maintain her health, safety, and well-being by allowing a resident to sexually abuse her. The family trusted the facility to take care of Melanie for her special needs and recurring epileptic seizures.

At 21, the facility failed to protect her from another patient across the hall. The male patient “sexually gratified” himself while staring into Alexis’ room.

A month later, after the first  incident, the mother of Alexis received a call from the facility. The staff found the same young man in Alexis’ bed, naked and touching there daughter. Although Alexis is unable to communicate exactly what happened due to her special needs, it was obvious she was upset and suffered depression after the incident occurred.

The family sued the facility and was concerned about protecting their innocent and young child.

The nursing home should have taken steps to prevent the first incident and to prevent the abuse from escalating to physical assault. They should have moved Alexis away from the abuser to prevent more abuse.

In the lawsuit, it states the facility did not notify the authorities immediately and did not quickly take Alexis to the hospital for an examination. They attempted to cover it up. This must be done to protect the victim and preserve evidence. However, the facility employees showed a careless indifference to her health and safety.

The family should have had the protection of the facility, but the facility failed to protect Alexis. At such a young age, it is sad to see this occur to a child who can’t protect or defend herself from abuse and needs the support of the facility to live.