I have been accused of sexual abuse for a 91-year-old patient. Why would this patient accuse me of such a thing?

Of course you are worried! He may believe it happened because his mind is going back to some type of abuse from when he was a child. You just happen to be there. But it is important that you find someone to be at your side as this could turn into a legal issue. At the very least, you should be allowed to formally state your case with your supervisor and ask for information on how to protect yourself. Also, you should likely remove yourself from this man's care. Just my thoughts, but it could be prudent. Good luck. This is a scary place to be.
Carol

unfortunately, it may be in your best interest to find a different place to live. Small towns can be hard. It sounds like your in a lose lose situation.

This is so upsetting. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? My own mother accuses me of all sorts of things and when people have dementia, the authorities should take that into consideration...what is wrong with those people? I hope you will work things out and maybe you should get out of that podunk town.

You should talk to an attorney. This could be very bad for you. If they charge you with a crime of sexual assault it could be prison time and this town sounds like they would railroad you into it. Either way you need legal advise and need it as soon as possible. If the agency you worked for fired you with out good reason they can be sued for unlawful termination. You case sounds like they just went with what the patient said and ran with it. Get some good legal advise before its too late.

I agree that you should seek legal counsel. Then when you get out of this mess, leave that small town. I, too, live in a small bigoted town and I know how it is . It;s difficult taking care of the elderly. Take care.

You could take a tape recorder. I am not sure how legal it is to record someone without their knowledge. Check your state law. I know some that recorded people before and it was not acceptable as evidence because it is illegal in this state to record people without their knowledge. Talk to your attorney. Make sure he has your best interest in this case. Too many public defenders don't take their clients best interest into consideration. They are just doing a job that they have been appointed to do whether they want to or not.

My mom also accused my boyfriend and a close family female friend of the same thing. She says they drugged her and took advantage. During the time of these accusations my mom was experiencing some hallucinations. She also believes it happen despite what I tell her.

Thanks Carol. It has now gone to a legal issue.My job fired me over something manafactured and unemployment just determined that they fired me for unjust cause after hearing the whole story.I live in a small,isolated little town so the closest APS is almost 100 miles away,so the police are working in their behalf.Which is not good for me,I have seen them literally run people out of town if they are not of the "flock" and we have had a large amount of suicides due to false accusations. I have some friends that are behind me totally and know this never happened but,I feel like I'm being railroaded. The Nurse that the patient reported to,(Home Care), didn't even question the patients mental state or medications he was talking. I immediately took myself away from this patient. Because the patient has pretty clear mental functions some times,except extreme forgetfulness,his accusations haven't even been questioned,Also because they've all known him since they were born. I am petrified and again,I am innocent .

Thank you all for your support and the "Hug". I have been appointed a pubic defender and i drove 500 hundred miles to the biggest City in my state and took a polygraph.The polygraph person said he's never seen a person that was so obviously innocent of these charges. I passed with flying colors. not that it makes any difference,except to me. I worry how other caregivers can protect themselves from this situation. I'm thinking a dibital tape recorder-What do you think?