Illinois Nursing Home Faces $1 Million Lawsuit over Pregnancy of Disabled Resident

By Daniel Hawn

Published on August 02, 2005

Cheryl Hale-Crom recently filed the 11-count lawsuit in Chicago's Cook County Circuit Court. In it, she alleges that her daughter, Amy Jo Hale, was sexually assaulted and impregnated at Alden Village Health Facility. She further claims that Alden staff concealed Hale's pregnancy from her for six months.

Hale, 23, is mentally disabled and cannot walk or talk. Because of her condition she wears a diaper and is forced to receive her food through a feeding tube. Her doctors intend to deliver her baby in August via Caesarean section. Ultrasound images of the unborn child have indicated no abnormalities or potential health complications. Hale's mother is planning to raise the child.

In the lawsuit, Hale-Crom claims that Alden staff did not notify her of Hale's pregnancy as soon as it became apparent. This delay, the lawsuit contends, made an abortion unsafe and jeopardized the health of both Hale and her unborn child.

A spokesperson for the nursing home said that Hale spent time at a program outside of Alden and that police may also be looking for suspects there.

In addition to sexual assault, nursing home abuse cases in the past have involved instances of physical/emotional abuse, financial exploitation, abandonment and neglect.

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