A man involved in a scheme to sexually assault residents of an Illinois assisted living and memory care community was sentenced to 14 years in prison Friday, according to the News-Gazette.
Dean Goble, 22, had pleaded guilty in January to one count of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault for the 2015 incident at Bickford of Champaign, the media outlet reported.
As McKnight’s Senior Living previously reported, local authorities began an investigation after a man later identified as Goble told them that Channing Butler, a certified nursing assistant at the community, had offered to pay him to have sex with a female resident with dementia while he videotaped him. Authorities subsequently found what they believed to be corroboration of Goble’s allegations on Butler’s phone.
Butler also reportedly offered to pay two additional men to have sex with female residents with dementia. Trent Warren received a 10-year prison sentence in March after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault. Dontrell Netter was charged with attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated criminal sexual assault and has a pre-trial hearing scheduled for June 6, according to court records.
Butler pleaded guilty in June 2016 to three counts of solicitation to commit aggravated criminal sexual assault against three residents and was sentenced to 14 years in prison the next month.
Two of the three sexual assaults were thwarted when the women pushed away their would-be attackers; one woman was assaulted and has since died, according to the News-Gazette.
In March 2016, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, cited the case in a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting details on Justice Department efforts to protect senior living residents from being exploited via social media.
A Bickford Senior Living representative previously stated that the company cooperated with police, reviewed community safety procedures and discussed the incidents with family members of other residents who live at the community.
