Sons of Dementia Patient Respond to Sexual Misconduct Charge

The two sons of John G. Edwards say they're outraged by recent actions taken by the and the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s office.

On Wednesday, a was charged with first-degree sexual misconduct after a police report stated that Edwards touched a woman's breast while standing in line at the on May 30.

Edwards no longer drives. His wife had driven him there and was waiting outside in the car.

Edwards, 63, has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, which causes "progressive deterioration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, and includes among its primary symptoms dramatic personality changes, loss of reasoning faculties, and an inability to control one's impulses," stated Grant Edwards, one of John Edward's sons, in an email to Patch.

“It's inconceivable to me that the prosecutor decided to proceed with a formal charge after verifying the facts of John's terminal brain disease,” he said.

Frontotemporal dementia patients exhibit a loss of inhibition, which can result in socially inappropriate and embarrassing behavior, like shoplifting or laughing at a funeral, stated Matt Edwards, John Edward's other son.

He said that his father has had frontotemporal dementia for more than nine years. Most people survive for eight years with the condition, he said.

There is no cure for frontotemporal dementia, which represents more than 10 percent of all dementia cases and affects nearly 50,000 Americans, according to The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, a nonprofit organization charged with public education, research and outreach about the illness.

Update:

Maj. Dan Fitzgerald of the Brentwood Police Department said the charge came from the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, which has been reached for comment.

Read yesterday's article on this subject: