Case of nurse accused of rape is sent to Erie County grand jury

1/31/2008

SANDUSKY The case of the nurse accused of raping a patient at a Perkins Township nursing facility will be bound over to an Erie County grand jury, a judge decided Thursday afternoon.

The decision by Judge Erich O Brien was made following the testimony of the two detectives who interviewed John Riems, 49, after he was accused last week of raping a 55-year-old man who is partially paralyzed at the Concord Care and Rehabilitation Cold man who enter in Perkins Township.

Although his defense attorney tried to have his confession suppressed, it was determined that the Sandusky man knew he was free to go during the entire discussion and he never asked for an attorney to be present while he was making his statements.

Those statements, authorities have said, include Mr. Reims saying he may have had improper contact with as many as 100 patients throughout his 20-year career. Police have said he worked at nine other facilities in four counties.

Mr. Riems was ordered held in the Erie County jail last week in lieu of $100,000 bond after he was charged with rape and gross sexual imposition. He entered not-guilty pleas last week in Sandusky Municipal Court in response to the recent allegations of a rape at the Concord facility involving the patient.