Channing J. Butler

A former certified nursing assistant at an Illinois assisted living and memory care community has been arraigned on charges that he hired three men to have sex with female residents with dementia while he videotaped them.

Channing J. Butler, 26, appeared in Champaign County Court Jan. 20, where he was arraigned on six counts of solicitation to commit aggravated criminal sexual assault, the county state’s attorney office told McKnight’s Senior Living. The solicitation allegedly occurred in June while Butler was employed at Bickford of Champaign, Champaign, IL. The charges are felonies and carry penalties of probation to prison time of four to 15 years.

Local authorities began investigating Butler when a man told them that Butler had offered to pay him to have sex with a resident at night while he worked, according to an article in the News-Gazette. They subsequently found what they believed to be corroboration of the man’s allegations on Butler’s cellphone. Police believe that Butler tried to orchestrate oral and vaginal sexual assaults on three different Bickford residents who had dementia — aged 88, 90 and 95 — but the assaults were thwarted when the women pushed away their would-be attackers.

Butler’s résumé also reportedly includes employment at other senior living and long-term care communities in the area. He has no criminal history. At the time of his Jan. 19 arrest, Butler was employed by Circle K, according to the News-Gazette.

Butler’s bond was set at $1 million, according to the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office. He remains in the county jail. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for March 8.

Representatives of Olathe-KS-based Bickford Senior Living did not respond to a request for comment made by McKnight’s Senior Living, but Alan Fairbanks, executive vice president of the company, told the News-Gazette that Bickford officials have cooperated with police, reviewed community safety procedures and discussed the alleged incidents with family members of other residents who live at the community.