Local caregiver pleads guilty to sexually abusing elderly woman

Brandon Bowcut

REXBURG — A Rexburg man has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 76-year-old woman at a care center.

Brandon Bowcut, 38, pleaded guilty to a single charge of sexual abuse or exploitation of a vulnerable adult on Wednesday.

“A vulnerable adult is someone who can’t take care of themselves in a given situation,” Madison County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Robert Wood said.

Court documents show the sexual abuse occurred at Carriage Cove Care Center on West 1st North in Rexburg on Feb. 13.

“She was being treated for some injuries and allegations were made that Bowcut, a CNA, inappropriately touched her during treatment,” Rexburg Police Capt. Randy Lewis told EastIdahoNews.com last month.

Bowcut was working at the rehabilitation center and was assigned to the wing where the victim was a patient. While on his shift, Bowcut entered the woman’s room alone — in violation of the facility’s two-person policy — and turned his back to the door to conceal his activities, according to court documents.

He greeted the woman and told her he needed to apply a special medical cream to her groin area. He then proceeded to touch the woman inappropriately. The victim was unable to stand at the time due to an injury and was under the influence of narcotic painkillers.

Bowcut later admitted to police that this was a deliberate and planned assault, and not part of his job.

Police investigated the claim and arrested Bowcut, a Brigham Young University-Idaho student from Wyoming, on Feb. 16. He was booked into the Madison County Jail.

Bond was set at $100,000, which Bowcut has not posted.

His sentencing is scheduled for May 23.

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Local caregiver pleads guilty to sexually abusing elderly woman