
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 9, 1995                   TAG: 9509110094
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SEX-ABUSE CHARGE AGAINST THERAPIST GOES TO GRAND JURY

A physical therapist waived a preliminary hearing Friday on charges that he sexually abused a woman he was caring for at a Northwest Roanoke nursing home.

The decision means that an aggravated sexual battery charge against James G. Nowlin, 40, will go directly to a grand jury that is scheduled to meet next month, according to defense attorney Tony Anderson.

Nowlin, of Roanoke, was arrested in July in connection with an incident at the Burrell Nursing Center on McDowell Avenue Northwest.

Police said at the time that the victim, described as "physically helpless with no communicative ability," reportedly was abused in her room.

Nowlin, who worked for a physical therapy agency contracted by the Burrell center, had been assigned to work with the woman. According to police, her therapy ended in February, but he continued to visit her room.

Nowlin, who was certified but not licensed as an occupational therapy assistant, not longer works at the nursing home.

Anderson said Friday that the decision to waive a preliminary hearing was not a concession on Nowlin's part, but was intended simply to eliminate an unnecessary step in the legal process.

Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by CNB