Adeladilew A. Mekonen (WCSO)A Providence St. Vincent certified nursing assistant has been charged with raping an 87-year-old woman in early September, 2016. The CNA, Adeladilew A. Mekonen, has reportedly confessed his guilt. Washington County Sheriffs report that a number of other victims now have come forward.
In June, a 94-year-old woman accused Mekonen, 34, of sexually molesting her. The hospital briefly put Mekonen on administrative leave before letting him come back to work, claiming that the charges could not be substantiated.
Our 87-year-old client accused Mekonen of raping her when she was hospitalized for a heart condition. When criminal charges were filed, Providence St. Vincent’s finally fired Mekonen.
“She’s asleep in her hospital room. In the middle of the night she awakens to this guy looming over her. He climbs into bed with her, he molests her, he rapes her, she’s terrified, she’s frozen, there is nothing she can do,” said Greg Kafoury of Kafoury & McDougal, who is representing the elderly woman.
Because Mekonen was allowed to return to work, Providence St. Vincent exposed a large number of elderly and vulnerable women to this predator. Anyone else abused by Mekonen should come forward. Kafoury & McDougal can help you get justice.
“The pattern that we’ve seen in all other cases against major hospitals has been that they learn about a guy, they don’t want to believe it, more complaints come in and at this point they are sort of committed to covering up and it just gets worse,” Kafoury said.
Our firm has handled cases involving more than 50 victims of medical sex abuse in several states across the country. We also run a website that keeps track of the problem nationally at www.medicalsexabuse.com.
Police want any person with information to contact Detective Robert Rookhuyzen at 503-846-2673.
Additional Information
The Oregonian – September 15, 2016
The Oregonian – September 20, 2016