Care home worker guilty of sexually abusing elderly woman

A care home worker is facing jail after he was caught by horrified colleagues molesting an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s.

The victim of the attack, who was 73 at the time, has since died. But Wayne Brownsey is now facing jail after being found guilty of sexually assaulting her.

The 44-year-old, of Leigh Road, Worsley, denied sexual assault, but was found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.

Brownsey was a maintenance worker at the Alderwood Care Home in Boothstown, Salford, where the victim, a dementia patient with limited capacity, lived.

At the time, Brownsey was in a long-term relationship with the manager of the home, Stephanie Boulton.

On February 20, 2014, Brownsey was seen leading the easily-manipulated victim, who couldn’t speak, to a rarely used room. He was spotted by two female carers who were concerned because his role did not involve guiding residents.

After being followed by the two women to the room, Brownsey was seen leaning over the victim, with his hand inside her clothing, molesting her.

Panicked Browney’s hand became momentarily stuck in the victim’s clothing as he tried to pull his hand away. Asked what he was doing, Brownsey made a ‘lame attempt to cover up’, prosecutor Michael Maher said, with the reply:

Brownsey was later arrested and denied the offence. He still maintains his innocence.

Prior to the incident, the jury was told, the two women and another member of staff already had concerns about Brownsey, to the extent they contacted Crimestoppers and asked if a camera could be placed in the victim’s room.

On one occasion leading up to the offence, the victim was found on the toilet in another resident’s room with Brownsey next to her.

During the trial, Mr Maher described the victim as ‘extremely vulnerable’, adding:

Remanding him in custody and ordering him to sign the sex offenders’ register, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the offence involved "a breach of trust against a very vulnerable lady - the likely sentence is a custodial one."