The family of a woman who was sexually assaulted in aged care has called for better protection of vulnerable nursing home patients, as her abuser is sentenced to one month in jail. Gary Cripps, 63, pleaded guilty at Geelong Magistrates Court to two counts of sexual assault against 62-year-old Jeanette Post, who had Alzheimer’s while she was resident at Sea Views Manor aged care home in Ocean Grove. Outside court, the victim’s daughter Sarah Holmes said she hoped the industry would learn from her mother’s story and the family’s fight for justice. “I really hope that through the aged care royal commission that people listen to this story and we increase staffing and our ratios and money, and just recognise that the victims of these crimes in aged care are just so vulnerable,” she said. “It’s not just them who are victims, it’s the people who have placed their trust in a system that we think is broken.” The court heard Cripps kissed Ms Post, on her lips, face, chest and hands while she was in his care in the special needs unit of the nursing home. She had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in her 50s and died three months after the assault.
