DUNNELLON, Fla. – A Florida man was arrested earlier this week after he was accused of groping a woman as she sat in her wheelchair outside her bedroom at an assisted living facility where they both live.
The incident was reported Monday at the Harbor House of Ocala assisted living facility in Dunnellon.
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According to a probable cause affidavit from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, an employee at the ALF reported the incident to authorities about an hour after it occurred.
The responding deputy said the victim told him that she was sitting in her wheelchair outside her bedroom when she was approached by Stephen Alfred Peeper, 72, who she said shoved his hands up the bottom of her dress and grabbed her breasts.
The woman told the deputy that she asked Peeper what he was trying to do and he said, “Trying to feel her t******.”
The woman told Peeper to stop because she has a boyfriend, but he proceeded to assault her a second time as she pushed him away, authorities said.
According to the affidavit, the employee who reported the alleged incident told the deputy that Peeper had previously made inappropriate sexual remarks to staff members and patients, and also groped a 19-year-old employee, but that incident was never reported to law enforcement.
The responding deputy inquired about the mental being of both parties due to it being an assisted living facility, but the employee who reported the incident said both were of sound mind, and that the victim suffers from Parkinson’s disease, and Peeper has a tracheotomy.
According to the affidavit, the deputy questioned Peeper about the incident, but he claimed he just tried giving the victim a cup of peanut butter and denied touching her breasts.
Peeper was ultimately arrested on a battery charge. He was jailed on a $1,000 bond.