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Photo by Roland Lizarondo Above: Pictured above is Avocado Post Acute in El Cajon, May 29, 2020. |
A former caregiver was arrested Tuesday and charged this week for allegedly sexually assaulting three women at three different local nursing homes.
El Cajon Police made the arrest Tuesday afternoon after pulling Matthew Fluckiger over in La Mesa.
“He did not resist,” El Cajon police Lt. Keith MacArthur said. “He came into custody without incident.”
The arrest came 18 months after then 71-year-old Catherine Gotcher-Girolamo accused him of sodomizing her during a diaper change at Avocado Post Acute nursing home.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s office has charged 36-year-old Fluckiger with one count of forcible lewd and lascivious conduct on an adult by a caretaker in that case.
Fluckiger also faces four other lewd and lascivious charges involving two other women. In one case, Fluckiger allegedly fondled a resident with dementia at San Diego Post Acute in August of last year, shortly after Avocado fired him following Girolamo’s assault accusations.
Fluckiger is also accused of sexually assaulting a woman twice in one day at Parkway Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation in La Mesa earlier this year.
Four of the five felony charges against Fluckiger carry sentences of 15 years to life.
Months of waiting for Fluckiger’s arrest had taken a toll on Gotcher-Girolamo. In October, she told KPBS she “didn’t understand” why Flucker hadn’t been arrested and charged yet. She was not available for comment Wednesday.
The DA’s office declined comment Wednesday.
Advocates for nursing home reform have argued that Avocado Post Acute employees and management should be prosecuted for failing to report Gotcher-Girolamo’s sexual assault allegations against Fluckiger to police and other authorities in a timely manner.
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