Jim Crowe
09-29-2004, 04:12 PM
http://www.rnews.com/images_story/HoraceParole.jpg
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040929/NEWS01/409290323
(September 29, 2004) — Former nurse's aide John Horace, imprisoned for raping and impregnating a comatose woman, claimed to the state Parole Board that he committed his crime because he thought a pregnancy could jolt the woman from her coma.
Horace, now 60, contended at a parole hearing this month that he acted in a humanitarian way, hoping to help the woman in his care recover from her vegetative state.
"This person was only 29 years old,'' Horace said of the woman, known publicly as Kathy. "She had her whole life ahead of her. And I thought that by doing this, if she came out of the coma, the way the books say that she would, she would have a normal life again, at least a chance at a normal life.''
The woman gave birth to a son in March 1996, making her the first known woman to conceive a child and give birth while in a coma. She never came out of the coma. She died in March 1997 of natural causes unconnected to the rape. She'd been comatose for more than a decade from injuries suffered in a car accident.
Sentenced in 1997 to 81/3 to 25 years, Horace was eligible for parole the first time this year. The Parole Board denied his bid for parole.
Kathy was under Horace's care at a Brighton nursing home, the former Westfall Health Care Center. The facility, at 5901 Lac De Ville Blvd., is now known as the Highlands at Brighton and is operated by the University of Rochester.
Horace's version of the crime has never before been public. The parole transcripts show an unrepentant Horace who maintained that he had Kathy's best interests at heart.
"I had a lot of empathy for this person,'' he said. "It bothered me deeply to see this person in this position.''
Horace denied assaulting Kathy. Horace, who previously operated as a "sex therapist,'' said that he'd read in a medical book how to impregnate a comatose woman to help her recover.
Horace said that he manually inserted his semen into her.
"I read in a medical book where ... if a person, say for instance, a person who is in a coma became impregnated, pregnant, it is a possibility it would bring her out of the coma,'' Horace told the Parole Board at the Sept. 8 hearing, according to transcripts obtained under state public access laws. "There are some cases in this book that show where people did come out of the coma.''
Assistant Attorney General Jerry Solomon, who prosecuted Horace, said Horace's claims defy logic.
"I believe it's highly unlikely that there's any legitimate medical book that would indicate that conduct is a remedy for a coma,'' Solomon said.
The rape, and subsequent birth, became national news and a spark for reforms at nursing homes.
New York lawmakers passed legislation, called "Kathy's Law,'' requiring the fingerprinting of nursing-home workers so background checks could be run on them.
Horace had been fired from other jobs for allegations of sexual misconduct.
Kathy's son now lives with his maternal grandmother "south of Rochester,'' according to lawyer John Parrinello, who represents Kathy's family in a lawsuit against Westfall and its owners.
"I don't care about Mr. Horace,'' Parrinello said. Instead, he contended, Westfall wrongly claimed it would be a safe environment for Kathy. Parrinello said he is pursuing a settlement with insurers. Kathy's son has been treated for heart-related problems, he said.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040929/NEWS01/409290323
(September 29, 2004) — Former nurse's aide John Horace, imprisoned for raping and impregnating a comatose woman, claimed to the state Parole Board that he committed his crime because he thought a pregnancy could jolt the woman from her coma.
Horace, now 60, contended at a parole hearing this month that he acted in a humanitarian way, hoping to help the woman in his care recover from her vegetative state.
"This person was only 29 years old,'' Horace said of the woman, known publicly as Kathy. "She had her whole life ahead of her. And I thought that by doing this, if she came out of the coma, the way the books say that she would, she would have a normal life again, at least a chance at a normal life.''
The woman gave birth to a son in March 1996, making her the first known woman to conceive a child and give birth while in a coma. She never came out of the coma. She died in March 1997 of natural causes unconnected to the rape. She'd been comatose for more than a decade from injuries suffered in a car accident.
Sentenced in 1997 to 81/3 to 25 years, Horace was eligible for parole the first time this year. The Parole Board denied his bid for parole.
Kathy was under Horace's care at a Brighton nursing home, the former Westfall Health Care Center. The facility, at 5901 Lac De Ville Blvd., is now known as the Highlands at Brighton and is operated by the University of Rochester.
Horace's version of the crime has never before been public. The parole transcripts show an unrepentant Horace who maintained that he had Kathy's best interests at heart.
"I had a lot of empathy for this person,'' he said. "It bothered me deeply to see this person in this position.''
Horace denied assaulting Kathy. Horace, who previously operated as a "sex therapist,'' said that he'd read in a medical book how to impregnate a comatose woman to help her recover.
Horace said that he manually inserted his semen into her.
"I read in a medical book where ... if a person, say for instance, a person who is in a coma became impregnated, pregnant, it is a possibility it would bring her out of the coma,'' Horace told the Parole Board at the Sept. 8 hearing, according to transcripts obtained under state public access laws. "There are some cases in this book that show where people did come out of the coma.''
Assistant Attorney General Jerry Solomon, who prosecuted Horace, said Horace's claims defy logic.
"I believe it's highly unlikely that there's any legitimate medical book that would indicate that conduct is a remedy for a coma,'' Solomon said.
The rape, and subsequent birth, became national news and a spark for reforms at nursing homes.
New York lawmakers passed legislation, called "Kathy's Law,'' requiring the fingerprinting of nursing-home workers so background checks could be run on them.
Horace had been fired from other jobs for allegations of sexual misconduct.
Kathy's son now lives with his maternal grandmother "south of Rochester,'' according to lawyer John Parrinello, who represents Kathy's family in a lawsuit against Westfall and its owners.
"I don't care about Mr. Horace,'' Parrinello said. Instead, he contended, Westfall wrongly claimed it would be a safe environment for Kathy. Parrinello said he is pursuing a settlement with insurers. Kathy's son has been treated for heart-related problems, he said.