A nursing assistant was in court Tuesday to face charges he sexually assaulted two elderly woman at Massachusetts nursing homes where he was working overnight shifts.
A grand jury in Worcester County had indicted Charles Wachira, a 40-year-old from Lowell, on charges including indecent assault and battery on an elder, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office and Middlesex County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.
Wachira is accused of sexually assaulting a resident of Knollwood Nursing Center in Worcester in February 2020 while washing her, even though she was able to wash herself. A year later, he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman at Bear Hill Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Wakefield after saying he had to "measure" her.
Wachira pleaded not guilty at the court hearing Tuesday, prosecutors said.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
A judge released him on condition he not work or volunteer as a certified nursing assistant while the case is ongoing. Wachira is also prohibited from working in health care or at nursing homes, can't work or volunteer with people over 60 or who are disabled and is not allowed to leave Massachusetts.
He's next due in court on Oct. 13.
As a certified nursing assistant, Wachira changed, bathed and fed residents of nursing homes, as well as helping them use the bathroom, according to the officials. They've notified the agency that offers CNA licenses about the charges brought against Wachira.
