Ex-Pol Found Not Guilty of Sexually Abusing Wife with Alzheimer's

Ex-Iowa legislator Henry Rayhons has been found not guilty of felony sexual abuse. A jury of seven women and five men acquitted Rayhons today on charges that he’d had sex with his wife Donna while she was in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease and unable to consent.

Rayhons was arrested in August, charged with having sexual contact with Donna last May in her nursing home bed. He initially told an an officer from Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation that they’d engaged in sexual conduct, but on the stand, testified that they hadn’t, saying she’d put on a nightgown, he’d tucked her into bed, and they prayed together before he left.

The Des Moines Register reports that shortly after the verdict was returned, Rayhons told the press, “The truth finally came out,” adding that Donna, who died shortly before he was arrested, had been “with me” during the trial. Several photos from the courtroom show Rayhons hugging his family and crying.

Rayons, right, with his attorney. Screengrab via KIMT