Male nursing home housekeeper, 51, is indicted for ‘raping 81-year-old woman with dementia’

A nursing home housekeeper from upstate New York has been indicted for allegedly raping a female 81-year-old resident suffering from dementia.

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday announced the indictment of 51-year-old Khadka Pradhan, of Rochester, who previously worked at the Shore Winds Nursing Home in Rochester.

Pradhan has been charged with first- and second-degree rape, first- and second-degree criminal sexual act, and endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person in the first degree.

‘The charges outlined in this case are as heinous and disturbing as they come,’ James said in a statement. ‘Mr. Pradhan allegedly raped an elderly woman with dementia at the nursing home where she lived — grossly violating her, other residents, and her family, who trusted that she would be safe and cared for.’

As alleged in the indictment, Pradhan was working at the nursing home on Beach Avenue on September 29 when he slipped into the victim’s room at around 6.30am, and, ‘through the use of forcible compulsion,’ sexually assaulted the mentally disabled woman.

Pradhan was arrested that same day thanks to what Monroe County prosecutor Bill Gargan described to WHEC in October as ‘the quick-witted action’ of other employees at the assisted living facility.

Pradhan was initially charged with first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of an incompetent person. He pleaded guilty and was released after posting $10,000 bail.

Pradhan, a housekeeper at Shore Winds Nursing Home in Rochester, New York (picurred), was arrested in late September

Following an investigation, a Monroe County Grand Jury indicted the suspect on the upgraded charges of rape.

Pradhan will be arraigned on the new charges at a later date. If convicted as charged, he will face up to 25 years in state prison.

Following Pradhan’s arrest in September, Shore Winds Nursing Home said the housekeeper was immediately suspended and banned from the facility.  

‘The Shore Winds Nursing Home is fully cooperating and supporting local authorities regarding an alleged incident,’ the facility’s representative said in a statement at the time. 

The incident in Rochester is reminiscent of the case of Nathan Sutherland, a former nurse at an Arizona long-term care facility who sexually assaulted and impregnated a 29-year-old incapacitated woman, who gave birth to a child in 2018.

Earlier this month, Sutherland was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual assault.