AUGUSTA, Maine — A former employee of a state-funded home for people with mental illness is charged with sexually assaulting a client with multiple mental illnesses at the home where the client lived.
Wayne Draper, 55, of Pittston, a state-licensed mental health worker who worked at Sunrise Home in Augusta, was indicted earlier this month by a Kennebec County grand jury on two Class C felony counts of gross sexual assault.
Sunrise Home is one of eight residential programs for adults with severe and persistent mental illness operated by Motivational Services, Inc., in the Augusta and Waterville areas.
In August 2017, staff at Motivational Services reported to Augusta police that a then-27-year-old client diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses said Draper "had been having sexual relations" with the client for four years, despite the client's requests that it stop.
Augusta Police Detective Tori Tracy wrote in a Sept. 23, 2019, affidavit that the incidents took place in the client's apartment at Sunrise House, which is licensed and funded by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. The client told police that they also "had sex" when he would drive the client to doctors appointments.
The client told police that while they initially enjoyed the "attention," even after the alleged victim told Draper they wanted the incidents to stop, "he hounded" the client, and "when [the client] asked him to stop, he wouldn't," Tracy wrote.
Draper, a 20-year employee of Motivational Services, allegedly bought the client gifts such as scratch tickets and told the client that he would get fired if the client told anyone about the incidents.
He allegedly had security cameras removed from the area around the client's apartment in order to access the client's apartment without attracting attention.
According to the affidavit, during the ongoing "relationship," the client's mental health deteriorated and the client was hospitalized.
Another employee of Sunrise House reportedly described Draper as "threatening" and "a big bully" who "frightened staff and clients.
John Zarrilli, executive director of Motivational Services, said Thursday that immediately after the client reported the alleged incidents, staff contacted Adult Protective Services and the Augusta Police Department.
DHHS spokeswoman Jackie Farwell said the department immediately launched a review, confirmed the involvement of law enforcement, and the agency terminated Draper.
Farwell said Sunrise House is licensed by DHHS, but the department is not responsible for licensing individuals.
She said Motivational Services has a contract with and is licensed by DHHS, but that professional licensure of individuals is not the purview of the department.
Portland attorney Luke Rioux, who represents Draper, did not return a phone call.
Draper is scheduled for arraignment in at the Capital Judicial Center on March 17.
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