Former Caregiver at Retirement Community in Ashtabula County Sentenced to Prison for Rape

News Release 

9/17/2025

(JEFFERSON, Ohio) — A former caregiver at a Conneaut retirement community has been sentenced to 8-12 years in prison for raping elderly residents, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.
 
“This was a horrific case of elder abuse at the hands of a predator masquerading as a protector,” Yost said. “My deepest thanks to the investigators and prosecutors who fought for the victims and brought this abuser to justice.”
 
Wayde Shankle, 36, of Ashtabula, pleaded guilty today in Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court to two first-degree felony counts of rape and was sentenced to prison immediately afterward. Upon release, he will be required to register as a Tier III sex offender for the rest of his life.
 
A grand jury indicted Shankle in July after an investigation found he raped two residents of Villa at the Lake, a residential care community where he worked as a nurse aide. One of the victims was a patient in the community’s memory-care unit.
 
Yost’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case with assistance from the Conneaut Police Department and the FBI. The Ashtabula County Prosecutor’s Office prosecuted the case.

The Ohio Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $15,343,488 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25% – totaling $5,114,493 for FY 2025 – is funded by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. 

Source:
Former Caregiver at Retirement Community in Ashtabula County Sentenced to Prison for Rape