At nursing home, a rape arrest

A registered sex offender living in a Norwood nursing home has been arrested and charged with raping his 90-year-old male roommate, according to police and court records.

John A. Enos, 68, had been convicted in the late 1980s of sex crimes against children, according to the state sex offender registry. He was one of four level 3 offenders -- those considered most likely to commit another sex crime -- living in Massachusetts nursing homes, according to an advocacy group. A fifth level 3 offender works in the kitchen of another nursing home.

''This clearly demonstrates the danger of putting predators in nursing homes with our elderly and disabled loved ones," said Wes Bledsoe, founder of A Perfect Cause, an advocacy group based in Oklahoma that is drawing attention nationally to sex offenders and other violent criminals living and working in nursing homes.

Norwood police arrested Enos Tuesday at the Emerald Court Health & Rehabilitation Center, and he is being held on $10,000 bail at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, police said. Police statements filed at Dedham District Court following his arraignment Tuesday say a nurse interrupted Enos sexually assaulting his roommate Sunday. Enos pleaded not guilty. His attorney could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Nursing home administrators knew of his sex offender status, but would not say yesterday what precautions they took to protect residents.

Police posted fliers with Enos's picture in the police station, in schools, and around the neighborhood -- as required by state law -- but not in the nursing home. Amy Knapp, a spokeswoman for Beverly Healthcare, the national chain that owns Emerald Court, said the nursing home did not inform residents because ''we were following the guidelines and direction from the state," which she said had cautioned the nursing home to respect Enos's privacy.

The roommate's daughter said last night that Enos had told her a couple weeks ago about his criminal record. She called the alleged rape ''a freaky accident. . . . It was nothing really that happened." The Globe's policy is to withhold the names of victims of alleged sex crimes unless they consent to be identified.

Other residents and their families said yesterday that they did not know that a high-risk sex offender was living in the building with nearly 180 other residents.

''I'm shocked and concerned," said Nickie Bretti of Norwood, whose father is a resident of Emerald Court. ''We weren't told. He should have been monitored more closely to make sure the rest of the patients were safe. And they should have told us."

State officials have launched an investigation to determine whether the nursing home took proper precautions to protect the 90-year-old and other residents. There are no state regulations that specifically deal with sex offenders in nursing homes.

Knapp said the staff learned that Enos was a sex offender after he was admitted, when he applied for Medicaid benefits. At that point, the facility structured his care to fit his background, said Knapp. She cited privacy concerns in declining to elaborate.

''The recent incident was not consistent with his past history," Knapp said yesterday. ''There was not a way for us to anticipate this."

Enos was convicted in 1987 of three counts of rape and abuse of a child and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years of age, according to the state sex offender registry. He was also convicted of two counts of indecent assault on a child in 1988. Police reports filed in court said Enos told them he had served 15 years in prison.

Officer Robert Baker, who handles sex registry issues for Norwood police, said he did not previously see Enos as a threat. ''He was bedridden," Baker said last month. ''This is not someone who is going to be roaming around. He's in tough shape and lost part of his foot."

Enos transferred to the Norwood home about 11 months ago from a nursing home in Lancaster, which had flooded, according to the police reports.

When police questioned Enos on Monday, he admitted that he ''was caught" performing sex on his roommate, according to police reports. Enos told police the roommate ''did not try to stop me."

The roommate told police that Enos assaulted him; the police said the roommate told them: ''No, no, no. I did not want this."

The alleged victim did not require medical attention, according to Officer Paul Bishop, the police spokesman.

Yesterday, Bledsoe called on the state to investigate all of the sex offenders and any other violent offenders who may be living in nursing homes.

The group has identified more than 500 registered sex offenders living in nursing homes nationwide by matching sex offender registries with nursing home addresses. In some states, they have also identified other violent criminals and parolees who have been sent to nursing homes.

Bledsoe advocates separate nursing homes for violent offenders, with added security and specially trained staff. He also wants lawmakers to require that nursing homes conduct criminal background checks before admitting any resident. And until there are enough separate facilities for violent offenders, he believes that nursing homes should notify all other residents and staff that a sex offender is being admitted.

Paul Dreyer, the Department of Public Health official who oversees nursing home quality, said that facilities are not obligated to check criminal backgrounds of residents and that the state learns of such backgrounds only if residents cause problems. He said he does not support barring sex offenders from nursing homes, but contends homes are obligated to screen residents and admit only those they are able to care for while keeping other residents safe.

Bledsoe's group identified three other level 3 sex offenders living in nursing homes in Massachusetts.

Michael P. Frey, 42, and Charles M. Brown, 39, are living at the Holyoke Rehabilitation Center, a 164-bed home, according to the sex offender registry, which lists street addresses, but not institution names. Frey, who previously lived in New York, was convicted in 1998 of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Brown was convicted in 1985 of rape and abuse of a child and in 1978 of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, according to the registry.

A spokesman for HealthBridge Management, which runs the home, declined to comment, citing the men's privacy rights. He said neither of the residents would speak to a reporter.

Warren J. De Mars, 75, lives at Farren Care Center in Montague, in a 122-bed nonprofit run by Sisters of Providence. In 1993, De Mars was convicted of child rape, indecent assault and battery on a child, and posing or exhibiting a child who was nude or engaging in sex, according to the registry.

De Mars said yesterday that he cannot get out of bed by himself and does not pose a threat to anyone. He said he has petitioned the state to reduce his status to level 1.

Local police said they had no record of any complaints about the men since they've been at the nursing homes. However, none said they posted information about the men at the homes.

Alice Dembner can be reached at Dembner@globe.com.