A local man accused of raping an elderly woman in 2000 finds himself in an institutional limbo.

The Torrance facility he has lived in for the past 19 years is ready to pass the 64-year-old on to a secure live-in mental health facility. However, the problem is finding a suitable space.

For nearly 20 years, Robert K. Rock has been treated at Torrance State Hospital after Common Pleas Court Judge William Shaffer found him not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of raping a mentally disabled person, aggravated indecent assault against a mentally defective person and indecent sexual assault of a disabled person, all felonies. The verdict was handed down during a non-jury trial.

The facility houses more than 150 patients suffering from severe and persistent mental illnesses.

In 2017, Shaffer heard a state petition to send Rock to a locked facility in Beaver County. But the long-term structured residence facility rejected Rock after determining it couldn't meet Rock's requirement that he be housed in an all-male facility, according to testimony Thursday in Shaffer's court.

Long-term secure residence sought

The state again petitioned Shaffer's court with the aim of housing Rock in a long-term structured residence in Allegheny County.

Attorney Eugene K. Cuccarese argued the state's case on Rock's behalf. Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope represented the county's interest.

“This has been on my plate since 2000, so I'm probably the only person here, besides Mr. Rock, who remembers the whole case,” Shaffer said.

According to police, Rock made a 78-year-old woman with dementia have sex with him after picking her up from her residence at a Chicora medical facility. The woman told police afterward she thought Rock was her husband.

“He's been institutionalized for so long that he needs help to reintegrate back into society,” Heather Stoykovich, a social worker with Torrance State Hospital, told the court on Thursday. “We believe Mr. Rock has met maximum benefit at Torrance. There's nothing more we could do for him.”

But even if Shaffer grants the state's petition, Rock would be put at the end of a waiting list in Allegheny County, where Allegheny residents take precedent. Rock's out-of-county residence could continually keep him at the end of the waiting list, according to testimony heard Thursday.

Stoykovich said Rock enjoys the highest level of freedom at Torrance, which allows him to freely roam the hospital's grounds unattended, among other privileges afforded to cooperative patients.

She further explained that a long-term structured residence is a “little Torrance,” where patients undergo therapy and cannot leave the building without permission.

In effect, a long-term structured residence for Rock would be “more restrictive,” Stoykovich said, even though it's considered one level closer to being released to the community.

New environment would help Rock

“It would be good for him to be in a new environment,” Stoykovich testified under questioning by Lope.

Lope mentioned a complaint of inappropriate sexual behavior with a woman during Rock's stay at the state hospital. But Stoykovich said the complaint was unfounded.

“He's a heterosexual male with sexual urges like anyone else. And the female expressed a desire for him too,” Stoykovich said.

Angela Santangelo, a mental health specialist for Butler County's human services, testified she meets with Rock monthly.

“It's a positive relationship,” Santangelo said. She noted the county's long-term structured residence wouldn't be able to house Rock because it's a coed facility and is primarily used as an alternative to going to Torrance.

“I support working with Torrance on whatever plan is viable,” Santangelo said, adding that she has no opposition to Rock being moved to a long-term structured residence.

Shaffer said he would take the information under advisement and rule on the petition.

If Rock's petition is granted and he makes it into the Allegheny County facility, courts in Butler would hold jurisdiction over the case, and the facility would report to Butler officials on Rock's behavior and progress. If the court isn't pleased with Rock's behavior, it could initiate a process to send Rock back to the state facility.

Part of Shaffer's ruling in 2001 required that Rock be detained in a facility until deemed safe to return to society.

Being sent to a long-term structured residence would be the beginning of the process to eventually release Rock, according to Lope.

He said he isn't necessarily opposed to the petition, considering Rock would still be under government supervision.