Former Caregiver at Retirement Community in Ashtabula County Indicted on Rape Charges

(JEFFERSON, Ohio) — A former caregiver at a Conneaut retirement community has been indicted on felony rape charges for alleged sex abuse involving elderly residents, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.

An Ashtabula County grand jury indicted Ashtabula resident Wayde Shankle, 35, on four counts of rape, a first-degree felony, and one count of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony.

Shankle is accused of sexually abusing two residents of Villa at the Lake, an assisted-living community where he worked as a nurse aide.

Yost’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case with assistance from the Conneaut Police Department and the FBI. The Ashtabula County Prosecutor’s Office is prosecuting the case in Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court, located in Jefferson.

Indictments are criminal allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty in a court of law.

The Ohio Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $15,343,488 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25% – totaling $5,114,493 for FY 2025 – is funded by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Dominic Binkley: 614-728-4127

-30-