Sex, Dementia and a Husband on Trial at Age 78
Henry Rayhons, 78, has been charged with third-degree felony sexual abuse, accused of having sex with his wife in a nursing home on May 23, 2014, eight days after staff members there told him they believed she was mentally unable to agree to sex.
This is such a compelling story…I’m not sure how I feel about it.
The full story here
oh2bhuman 
Comments on: "HUSBAND ON TRIAL FOR SEX WITH WIFE" (9)
This case is beyond sad. It shows just how difficult some things can be and also how viewpoints radically differ. I teach high school and I can assure you that a lot of young people cannot imagine this. While I do not see late 70s as all that old, I can assure you they would. Another dilemma for our society.
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Good point . So difficult to find the answer to a sensitive topic that protects the patient and respects the marital relationship
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This is such a confusing dilemma. I can see how the medical team and her daughter would want to protect her from something that could appear to be, or could be abuse. I can also see how the Alzheimer’s patient would have periods of lucidity and recognize her husband, and feel sexual towards him. I do think this is something that needs to be addressed as we have so many more people in assisted living, living with some form of dementia.
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As the aging population grows in numbers, these issues will be coming up more and more.
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If I get Alzheimer’s disease (which I worry about all the time), I pray to God that my wife of 35+ years will still have sex with me. At every opportunity. (Look, lawyers, I’m putting it in writing!) If the morons who run things should decide to throw her in jail for taking advantage of me, I know I’d be depressed to never see her again. She’s the one person I might vaguely recognize.
If this 78 year-old politician were not a Christian or a Republican… if he were a woman and the Alzheimer’s victim was her husband… would perhaps a trace of common sense be evident in the legal charges? A double standard, as horrible as it always is, might be an improvement over the quadruple standards we enforce.
M. Talmage Moorehead
http://www.storiform.com
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Well said. It seems like there are many facets to this story. Certainly a sad situation when we don’t really understand how to assess consent in these patients.
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WOW! How sad and crazy, but also very interesting.
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I thought it was really interesting…I’m not sure where I stand on the issue. I try to put myself in the daughter’s shoes…quite a dilemma.
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You are correct. I can understand how the daughter feels also.
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