Caretaker, 33, arrested on suspicion of raping 87-year-old woman with dementia at Santa Ana senior living facility
(The AEGIS Alliance) – A caretaker, age 33, suspected of raping an 87-year-old elderly woman who has dementia at a senior living facility in Santa Ana was arrested, according to police on Friday.
The sexual assault reportedly happened at the Sunflower Gardens Senior Living Facility just after 12:35 p.m. on Thursday, the Santa Ana Police Department said.
Earlier that day, it’s alleged that Juan Sandoval from Orange grabbed the victim when she was in a hallway. after which he sexually assaulted her in a bedroom at the facility. The assault was interrupted when a different caretaker walked by the bedroom, which had its door still open, and noticed what was taking place, police stated.
Sandoval then put his clothes on and fled the bedroom while the witness reported the incident to a supervisor.
Sandoval was arrested at the facility by police, the place he was still working at after they arrived on the scene.
He was booked into the Orange County Jail on suspected rape, elderly abuse, and kidnapping with intent to commit rape, Sandoval is being held on a $1 million bond.
Detectives interviewed more than 40 residents at the facility but didn’t discover additional victims. They stated all the residents residing there “have some form of Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.” Sandoval had been employed at the facility for 3 years.
Investigators are looking for any other potential victims and are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Corona by calling 714-245-8343 or emailing GCorona@santa-ana.org. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Orange County Crime Stoppers by dialing 1-855-847-6227.
Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
