Former Iowa lawmaker found not guilty of sexually abusing wife

GARNER, Iowa – An Iowa jury on Wednesday found a longtime state lawmaker not guilty of sexually abusing his wife who suffered from dementia, an unusual case that centered on when a person is no longer mentally capable of consenting to sex.

After about 13 hours of deliberation over three days, jurors found Henry Rayhons, 78, not guilty of third-degree sexual abuse of his wife, Donna Lou Rayhons. He was accused of having sex with her at a nursing home in May after being told by staff that she was no longer capable of consenting due to dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease. She died in August.

Henry Rayhons testified in his own defense that on the night in question the couple held hands, prayed and kissed, but had no sexual contact.

“The truth finally came out,” Rayhons said after the verdict, noting that he believed his wife was “with him” throughout the trial.

Jurors weighed testimony from family members, doctors and investigators throughout the trial in Hancock County Court. Rayhons’ defense attorney said a guilty verdict could raise fears that any interaction between spouses could be interpreted as sexual abuse. Prosecutors said a not-guilty verdict would put others with dementia at risk of being harmed.

Iowa law defines an act as sexual abuse in the third degree if the two parties are not living together as husband and wife and if one person “is suffering from a mental defect or incapacity which precludes giving consent.”

Mark Kosieradzki, a Minneapolis-based attorney who has tried numerous cases of sexual abuse in nursing homes, said it wasn’t clear whether the jury concluded that she was able to consent or if they decided that the prosecution had failed to prove that sex took place on that day.

“But the legal question doesn’t change. It should always be a matter of consent of the patient,” Kosieradzki said.

Henry and Donna Lou Rayhons were married for seven years, the second marriage for both after they had been widowed. The dispute began last year when Donna Lou Rayhons’ health deteriorated and she was moved to a nursing home in Garner.

The family conflict that erupted between Henry Rayhons and his wife’s daughters from her previous marriage over how to care for her culminated in a meeting in which the nursing home staff briefly told Rayhons that his wife was no longer mentally capable of legally consenting to sex. In his testimony, Rayhons said he thought this was a doctor’s advice, not an order.

Rayhons served 18 years as a Republican member of the Iowa House.