Former Healthcare Worker Charged with Sexual Assault
A 61-year-old healthcare worker accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct while working in several Washington hospitals and nursing homes has been charged with a second degree sexual assault crime. The victim reported that the accused man touched her inappropriately while she was in the hospital from March – May 2018. She told investigators that she did not report the incident earlier because the man threatened her when she told him to stop. He said, “Don’t worry about it. This is how I do it. I’ll make your stay miserable, and I know where you live.” The woman reported the incident in October 2018, after she told a visiting nurse about it. Investigators also interviewed the visiting nurse.
During their investigation, the police discovered that the defendant has been accused multiple times during his career as a healthcare worker. Separate incidents occurred in 2003, 2004, and 2005, and two of them were reported to the local police; however, the county prosecutor refused to file charges. The defendant denied any wrongdoing.
In a 2011 incident included in the courts’ documents, after another patient accused the defendant of touching her inappropriately, he reportedly said, “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to. Don’t tell anyone. I’ll never do this again to you.”
The defendant is being held in the County Jail with bail set at $100,000. He is expected to be arraigned on the charges May 2.
A hospital administrator in the facility where the March – May 2018 alleged assaults occurred issued this statement:
”[Facility’s name] takes these allegations seriously, and we are committed to providing care and support for all our patients. We have been and will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities in this matter. The individual who has been charged is no longer employed by [facility’s name].”
Two other facilities issued statements to the effect that they would not share information about pending legal matters, patients, or former employees.
Compliance Perspective
Failure to screen for problematic histories by performing background and reference checks on potential healthcare workers may be considered abuse, neglect, and substandard quality of care that violates federal and state law.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding conducting background and reference checks when an individual is hired, and then periodically to ensure that employees are in good standing and there are no instances of reported allegations of criminal behavior.
- Train staff regarding prevention of inappropriate sexual contact with residents and to report any suspicious behavior by other staff members.
- Periodically audit by interviewing residents and their families to determine if any inappropriate behavior by staff members may have occurred and not been reported.
