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Adult home worker charged with sexually abusing woman
Posted at: 01/03/2013 12:29 PM
| Updated at: 01/03/2013 4:33 PM
By: Beth Wurtmann
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LOUDONVILLE - Colonie police have charged an Albany man after they say he inappropriately touched a 91-year-old woman.
Police say it happened at the Loudonville Home for Adults.
Richard Ragone, 64, was a maintenance worker at the home.
Police say he went into the woman's room to change a light bulb and then put his hands down her shirt.
They say the incident took place on Nov. 30 when a witness observed Ragone placing his hands down the victim's shirt and rubbing her breasts without her consent.
Ragone is a Level 3 sex offender, having previously served prison time for rape. He was convicted in 1984 in the rape and sodomy of a 43-year-old woman.
He was released from prison in 2000 and started working for the assisted living home eight years later.
Colonie Police say “The information about him certainly is out there if anyone had done any checking into Mr. Raggone, they certainly would have found that. As far as should he have been allowed to work there or not, that's a question not to be answered by the police department,” said Lt. Robers Winn of the Colonie Police.
Only nursing homes and home care services are required by state law to do criminal backyard checks -- not adult care facilities like the Loundonville Home for Adults.
It's also not against the law for the home to hire a sex offender, according to the State Health Department.
NewsChannel 13 asked the home why they didn't do a background check when they hired Ragone.
The home issued a written statement saying, 'He was employed in a non resident care position. When we learned of the inappropriate contact with the resident he was discharged immediately and the home contacted law enforcement.'
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