Nursing Home Horrors
Back in February, the Record reported that Paradigm in Schulenburg was home to 23 registered sex offenders. We tried contacting the facility to find out why so many registered sex offenders live there, but the company never responded. At that time, we filed an open records request with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to learn more about any state investigations into physical or sexual abuse at the facility.
We received those findings last week. A “Survey/ Inspection Summary Report” from HHSC dated Nov. 7, 2024, details a alleged incident that resulted in a Fayette County Grand Jury indicting a 75-year-old man for sexually assaulting a nursing home resident in November of last year.
The indictment, handed down on March 20, states that on or about Nov. 2, 2024, Kenneth Buel Williams Jr. “did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause (sexual abuse)” of an unnamed victim “who was an elderly individual … without the consent of the complainant.”
Furthermore, the indictment states that Williams had been previously convicted of aggravated rape in Randall County in 1981. The incident allegedly took place at Paradigm at the Oak, the Schulenburg nursing home previously known as Colonial Care Center. At the time of the assault last year, both Williams and the victim were residents at Paradigm.
The HHSC report quotes nursing home staff who witnessed the incident and broke it up. At least one nurse alleged that the administrator instructed them to not report the incident. Law enforcement and responsible parties for the victim were not notified until days after the assault. The company that owns the facility eventually fired the administrator.
Another report from the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) states that the perpetrator in the Nov. 2 assault was one of the registered sex offenders living at the facility.
According to the Texas Sex Offender Database, there are now 17 registered sex offenders living at the address of Paradigm at the Oak.
We’re still pouring through the hundreds of pages of documentation about not only the sexual assault, but other violations at Paradigm at the Oak. CMS has now cited the facility for abuse.
We are also trying to find out what happened to the administrator who allegedly attempted to cover up the sexual assault.
Look for more on this story in an upcoming issue of the Record.