Northeast Philly man charged with raping dying nursing-home patient

As Upper Darby detectives continue to investigate the murder of 84-year-old Jane Morgan, who was sodomized and smothered to death in her apartment last month, another horrid case of elder sexual abuse has emerged in Delaware County.

Yeadon police have charged a Northeast Philadelphia man with raping a dying 70-year-old nursing-home patient with Alzheimer's disease and a brain tumor. Doctors say she has less than six months to live.

Timothy Patrick White, 46, waived his preliminary hearing yesterday and was held for trial on 15 counts of rape and related charges.

Police say that White took the victim from the Manor Care Nursing Home to a Southwest Philadelphia bar for rum-and-cokes, then to Cobbs Creek Park, where they drank beer until 5:30 a.m. on July 22.

When he drove the woman back to the nursing home, staffers went to help her out of the car and noticed that White was "not wearing a shirt and his pants were unbuttoned," according to the affidavit for his arrest. They also found bruises on the victim's mouth, neck and arms, and discovered that she was not wearing any underwear. White told workers he was "a friend of hers," then drove away, police said. It was unclear how White was able to leave the home with the woman.

"She has no idea what happened," said Yeadon Detective Sgt. David Splain. "You're taking advantage of an elderly person that has diminished mental capacity."

A DNA sample taken from White matched semen recovered from the victim's anal cavity, according to police.

Splain said that the victim doesn't have the ability to form consent - which automatically makes it a rape case - and that doctors believe that she suffers from vascular dementia in conjunction with a brain tumor.

White's arrest follows a spate of abominable sexual-abuse cases in Delaware County, including:

* An Upland man is being held on $1 million bail for allegedly raping his young daughter over a two-year period. "This guy is a disgrace to human society," said police Investigator Michael Curran. The defendant, whose name is being withheld by the Daily News to protect the victim's identity, faces 260 counts of rape and related charges.

* Dr. Jerry Lazaroff, a clinical psychologist who worked for Delaware County Juvenile Court, was held for trial Wednesday for allegedly fondling four children, ages 5 to 10, during private therapy sessions at his Upper Providence office.

* Shawn Allen Rudd, a Megan's Law sex offender from Middletown, is awaiting a preliminary hearing on charges that he sexually assaulted two boys, ages 11 and 12, and a 9-year-old girl. Rudd, 44, was convicted in 1998 of assaulting a 2-year-old, according to Upper Chichester Detective Thomas McNichol, who said his department has seen an uptick in cases involving the sexual abuse of young children.

* John Jackey Worman, 41, of Colwyn, who was convicted last month in federal court of 55 child-pornography charges, is facing hundreds of charges in Delaware County, including the rape of a 3-month-old infant. *