Caroline* first met her sister Joanna*'s abuser when she was visiting her care home, where she was being treated for dementia. He helped them put a TV up on Joanna's bedroom wall. He seemed, as Caroline puts it, quite pleasant. But her sister's reaction to the worker during another visit worried her.
"One day he walked past while we were sitting in the dining room and my sister's eyes narrowed and followed him all the way around the room," she said. "She just put her head down and she said, 'Fucking bastard'."
It was not until a year later that the true scale of Teo-Valentin Todorovits's crimes started to come to light after staff discovered a condom in Joanna's room. Joanna is one of the first known victims of Todorovits, a "monster" rapist care worker jailed for 24 years for the rape, sexual assault and abuse of dementia patients across two care homes during a three-year campaign of abuse.
The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to 12 charges - including two of rape, one of voyeurism and several of sexual assault - but only two victims were able to be identified by police, one of whom was Joanna. His shocking crimes, Caroline said, have left Joanna a shell of her former self.
'I just screamed: 'No, no, no"
"She's not here any more," Caroline told The Independent. "There's nothing there. She just sits and screams, balls her hands into claws and starts to tear at her body as if she's trying to get rid of something. The only thing I can do is stroke her arms and her head. She will recognise my voice and calm down and that will happen for about two minutes. But that [screaming] could happen every 10 minutes."
Joanna had been in the care home for a few months when Todorovits began working there in 2020. Not long after he arrived, Caroline received an anonymous phone call, warning that her sister was being abused by a member of staff. She rushed to the care home, where a manager told her that he had pushed her over. She found out little more.
Nearly 12 months later, she received the dreaded phone call outlining more abuse. The call came after Joanna had been sent to hospital to be treated for a UTI. "The manager said to me: 'She's coming back from the hospital and she's fine and she's there's nothing physically wrong with her.' And then I knew what she was going to tell me.
"I started screaming down the phone. I had suspected that something was being hidden and it just sort of came through and [I was] just screaming 'no, no, no' down the phone. Then the following evening I had three police officers round my house."
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1591272633/1697343865/articles/PUnDLUGKG1697346248953/1137376693.jpg]
The condom was found in Joanna's room in March 2021. The care home managers alerted the police to a potential safeguarding incident. However, according to Caroline, a "mistake" by police officers - three of whom are now facing a misconduct investigation - meant the care worker was able to flee the country before coming back to the UK to work at another care home, where he was able to abuse more vulnerable women.
To this day, Caroline doesn't know the full extent of what happened to her sister. But she was told by officers that Todorovits had videoed her sister, as well as taken pictures and would even phone other people when he was assaulting her. "I still go to bed, shut my eyes, and then they are suddenly pinned open and she's in my head. I couldn't protect her - and I'm not the only one," said Caroline.
As the judge sentenced Todorovits to 24 years in prison, Caroline said she felt "elated". "I cannot say in word...
"One day he walked past while we were sitting in the dining room and my sister's eyes narrowed and followed him all the way around the room," she said. "She just put her head down and she said, 'Fucking bastard'."
It was not until a year later that the true scale of Teo-Valentin Todorovits's crimes started to come to light after staff discovered a condom in Joanna's room. Joanna is one of the first known victims of Todorovits, a "monster" rapist care worker jailed for 24 years for the rape, sexual assault and abuse of dementia patients across two care homes during a three-year campaign of abuse.
The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to 12 charges - including two of rape, one of voyeurism and several of sexual assault - but only two victims were able to be identified by police, one of whom was Joanna. His shocking crimes, Caroline said, have left Joanna a shell of her former self.
'I just screamed: 'No, no, no"
"She's not here any more," Caroline told The Independent. "There's nothing there. She just sits and screams, balls her hands into claws and starts to tear at her body as if she's trying to get rid of something. The only thing I can do is stroke her arms and her head. She will recognise my voice and calm down and that will happen for about two minutes. But that [screaming] could happen every 10 minutes."
Joanna had been in the care home for a few months when Todorovits began working there in 2020. Not long after he arrived, Caroline received an anonymous phone call, warning that her sister was being abused by a member of staff. She rushed to the care home, where a manager told her that he had pushed her over. She found out little more.
Nearly 12 months later, she received the dreaded phone call outlining more abuse. The call came after Joanna had been sent to hospital to be treated for a UTI. "The manager said to me: 'She's coming back from the hospital and she's fine and she's there's nothing physically wrong with her.' And then I knew what she was going to tell me.
"I started screaming down the phone. I had suspected that something was being hidden and it just sort of came through and [I was] just screaming 'no, no, no' down the phone. Then the following evening I had three police officers round my house."
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1591272633/1697343865/articles/PUnDLUGKG1697346248953/1137376693.jpg]
The condom was found in Joanna's room in March 2021. The care home managers alerted the police to a potential safeguarding incident. However, according to Caroline, a "mistake" by police officers - three of whom are now facing a misconduct investigation - meant the care worker was able to flee the country before coming back to the UK to work at another care home, where he was able to abuse more vulnerable women.
To this day, Caroline doesn't know the full extent of what happened to her sister. But she was told by officers that Todorovits had videoed her sister, as well as taken pictures and would even phone other people when he was assaulting her. "I still go to bed, shut my eyes, and then they are suddenly pinned open and she's in my head. I couldn't protect her - and I'm not the only one," said Caroline.
As the judge sentenced Todorovits to 24 years in prison, Caroline said she felt "elated". "I cannot say in word...
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The Independent (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 15, 2023