Man charged with elderly patient’s rape in 2000 had been working in Dayton

RELATED: Cold-case: Man indicted in area nursing home patient’s rape in 2000

Schneider was fired after failing to come to work at Riverside Healthcare in Harrison Twp. on the day of his arrest, Feb. 27, according to Fred Stratmann, the general counsel with Communicare, which owns the facility.

Stratmann said Schneider was fired for violating company policy by failing to call to report his absence.

“I guess he was incarcerated and could not make that call,” Stratmann said on Wednesday.

Upon learning of the allegations, Stratmann said Communicare immediately began assessments and an internal inquiry to ensure no cases of patients at Riverside harmed by Schneider.

“We found none,” Stratmann said.

Schneider had been hired about three weeks earlier after a full background check, a review of his nursing license and reference, according to Stratmann.

RELATED: 55-year-old man in jail accused of raping elderly patient in 2000

“He was not known to be under investigation by our team,” Stratmann said.

Magistrate Andrew Hasselbach set Schneider’s bond at $50,000 during a hearing in the common pleas court in Lebanon.

Schneider indicated he was hiring William Rapp, a lawyer in Amelia, but Hasselbach appointed another lawyer, William Oswald, in case Rapp decided not to represent him.

Rapp could not be reached for comment.

During the hearing, Schneider indicated he understood the charges, but questioned them.

“I’m 55 years old, judge, I’ve never been in trouble,” Schneider said.

Schneider said he was on a 22-day “hunger strike to give up” until his daughters told him he “was strong enough to get through this.”

Schneider asked to be released on an electronic monitor so he could talk with his daughters about “the impossible inevitability….”

Hasselbach stopped Schneider mid-sentence, then set the bond and arrangements for Schneider’s release on an electronic monitor, if he was able to make bail.

He remained in the jail on Wednesday, according to jail records.

Authorities have declined to say what evidence supported Schneider’s arrest almost 19 years after the alleged incident.