GARNER, Iowa (AP) - Doctors and nursing home staffers testified Monday in the trial of a former Iowa lawmaker accused of sexually abusing his wife, noting the woman’s mental capacity deteriorated rapidly in the months before the alleged incident.
Dr. John Brady, medical director of Concord Care Center in Garner, said the wife of Henry Rayhons might have responded positively to interactions with her husband, but those reactions don’t equate consent, particularly due to her dementia cause by Alzheimer’s disease. Rayhons, 78, is charged with third-degree sexual abuse.
Prosecutors allege Rayhons had sex with his wife, Donna Lou Rayhons, in May at the nursing home after being told his wife was no longer mentally capable of consenting. Joel Yunek, Rayhons’ defense attorney, argues there’s no forensic evidence proving his client had sex with his wife on the day alleged by prosecutors. Donna Lou Rayhons died in August.
Brady testified that the woman’s health steadily declined in early 2014, to the point where she scored a zero in May on a cognitive test in which patients are asked basic questions. He said any score below eight signals severe impairment.
Another doctor, neurologist Alireza Yarahmadi, said the severity of Donna Lou Rayhons’ condition restricted her awareness of what was going on around her. And Shari Dakin, a nurse at the care center, said she never saw the woman make a decision on her own in the months she lived there.
Prosecutors also showed jurors security-camera footage from the night of the alleged incident. The video shows Henry Rayhons going into her room with her, staying there for about half an hour and depositing something into a laundry cart on his way out.
Yunek has said Rayhons often dropped his wife’s laundry into the bin, but prosecutors claim he was trying to discard evidence.
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