A female resident of a St. Paul nursing home was sexually assaulted repeatedly over a period of months by a staff member, according to a state investigative report released Tuesday.

The abuse, which included forcing the woman to perform oral sex and fondling of her breasts, occurred at Highland Chateau Health Care Center on W. 7th Street, the Health Department report said. The report did not give the age of the resident or the employee.

The employee was fired. St. Paul police tried to question him, but the phone numbers he provided weren't working.

Officials with St. Paul police were checking Tuesday afternoon to see where the investigation stands. A spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney's office said the Health Department forwarded a case for consideration of charges but prosecutors have yet to make a determination.

The administrator of the home could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

According to the report, which did not reveal the identities of the staff member or the resident:

The resident had limited mobility and needed help dressing, bathing and with her bathroom needs.

When confronted by a state investigator, the staff member denied the allegations, saying the woman would at times not make sense and was under the impression he would marry her.

However, other staff members described the woman as "alert and oriented." One said the woman told her "she just wanted it over," the report said.

When interviewed, the accused staffer also was confronted about allegations of neglect and physical abuse at other care facilities where he had worked. In one previous case, the staffer failed to cooperate with an investigation of "sexually inappropriate" behavior.

Despite the allegations of earlier misconduct, the Health Department initiated no other investigations against the caregiver because the "information collected during the intake process did not meet the criteria for further investigation," said Stella French, who heads the department's Office of Health Facility Complaints.

The nursing home was not held responsible for the abuse, the report said, because the accused staff member had been properly trained regarding abuse and maltreatment and the facility responded properly when it first learned of the allegations.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482