Elderly Woman Seeks Damages In Sexual Assault Case

HERMANTOWN, (AP) - Court records show an 89-year-old woman who was raped at a senior living home in northeastern Minnesota received no treatment or counseling after reporting the attack and was sent to the mental health unit of a Duluth hospital against her wishes.

A 30-year-old nursing assistant, Andrew Scott Merzwski, has been sentenced in St. Louis County to more than 4 years in prison after admitting to sexually assaulting the woman at Edgewood Vista in Hermantown.

According to court documents, the victim was held for nearly three days at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth following the attack in January 2013.

The woman is seeking punitive damages from Merzwski, Edgewood Vista and two administrators. Edgewood Vista is owned by Edgewood Management Group of Grand Forks, N.D., which did not immediately return a call seeking comment.