Sex and the nursing home

The current article discusses the case of Henry Rahons. A nearly 80 year old man who was accused by the local district attorney of having unlawful sexual contact with Donna, his second wife of some seven years who had developed Alzheimer's disease in her later years. Under Iowa law, he was accused of having sexually abused her because she had "a mental defect or incapacity which precludes giving consent" to sex acts. A jury acquitted Henry of the charge of sexually abusing his wife. The evidence was equivocal that a sex act occurred on May 23, 2014, the date specified in the indictment. This article addresses the ability to assessed competence to consent to sex in similar situations. The current rules and attitudes about senior sex in nursing homes needs to be reevaluated. (PsycINFO Database Record