Man charged with rapes at nursing home was LPN

NEW BEDFORD - A 57-year-old Fall River man is facing rape charges involving residents at a nursing home in New Bedford where he worked as a licensed practical nurse, according to court documents.

Jacob King is charged with three counts of rape related to incidents involving two victims at the Savoy Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on County Street, according to Megan Borges, a spokeswoman for Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III.

Judge Robert Ovoian found King to be a danger and he was held without bail until the next day, according to court documents dated Nov. 21. Then the judge released him on conditions of home confinement, monitoring with a GPS bracelet and the requirement that he stay away from the nursing home and the two victims, Borges explained in an email to The Standard-Times. He is to leave home only for medical and legal appointments, officials said.

According to a police report, a facility employee said Nov. 2 she called police because she was made aware of "relations" going on between King and a patient and that the incident was to be investigated internally and with the state.

A patient told the employee she and King were having "sexual relations" and she wanted them to stop. According to the police report, the employee said the patient feared retaliation from King.

The patient told officers she and King had been talking and "having relations" since around mid September. She said the two of them texted back and forth and "he made her feel good about herself, causing her to fall into the situation," the report said.

The patient detailed a sexual assault in a bathroom where she managed to break free from King after pushing him away. She said she didn't consent, the police report said. She cited two more incidents.

In an interview at the New Bedford Police Department, King said he was "involved" with two patients at the same time. "I never forced myself on either of those women," he told police in the interview.

A phone belonging to one of the victims was confiscated which reportedly had text messages between her and King that were "sexual in nature" and included photos of King naked.

King is set to be back in New Bedford District CourtDec. 20 for a probable cause hearing, Borges said.

A statement from the nursing home to media outlets Thursday said "During the three years Mr. King worked for us, his record was clean, except for unrelated, minor grievances filed immediately before the assaults are alleged to have occurred."