Former Iowa State Legislator Faces Trial for Sexual Abuse of Wife With Alzheimer's

Henry Rayhons, former Iowa state legislator, lost his wife Donna Lou last year after a long battle with Alzheimer's. After the pain of grief, the 78-year-old is now on trial for having sex with his late wife at the Concord Care Center in Garne.

The Iowa Attorney General's office says Rayhons had intercourse with Donna when she lacked the mental capacity to consent for sex because she had Alzheimer's disease. She died August 8, four days short of her 79th birthday, of complications from the disease. One week later, Rayhons was arrested. Authorities claim that he had sex with his wife after the care center staff warned him that Alzheimer's had taken away her ability to consent. The Des Moines Register reported that Rayhons broke down in tears several times as he gave evidence during his trial at Hancock County courthouse this week. "I treated her like a queen. She was my queen. I miss her every day. I will never take her ring off," he said.

The former senator's family in a statement said that the charges were incredibly illogical. "Accusing a spouse of a crime for continuing a relationship with his spouse in a nursing home seems to us to be incredibly illogical and unnatural, as well as incredibly hurtful," they said.



Source: Medindia