Hospital Worker Allegedly Raped Deaf Mute Psych Patient

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Hospital Worker Allegedly Raped Deaf Mute Psych Patient - Gothamist

A hospital employee is being investigated for allegedly raping a male patient a the shower in the psychiatric unit of Kings County Hospital Center—where a 49-year-old woman died in a waiting room after being repeatedly ignored by staffers. The victim, described in the Daily News as "developmentally disabled, deaf and mute," reported the attack to relatives two weeks ago. After scanning surveillance footage and conducting forensic tests, police are reportedly nearing an arrest.

Last year, the Justice Department released the findings of a year-long investigation of the East Flatbush medical center's psychiatric unit [PDF], which revealed a lengthy record of violence and sexual assault. That study included reports of forced sex acts, brawls that left patients needing surgery, and staffers administering simultaneous injections of medications despite the possibility of overdoses.

The city recently spent $153 million to open a new psychiatric unit to "replace the notorious G Building where deplorable conditions were documented in a federal suit," according to the tabloid. Following the lawsuit, city officials agreed to court-supervised monitoring of the medical center. "This is the most serious incident in the new facility," a source told the paper.

 

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Disabled Man Assaulted at Hospital, Police Say

Larry J. Taylor Charged in Sexual Assault at Brooklyn Hospital - NYTimes.com

A custodian in Kings County Hospital Center’s psychiatric unit, which was recently placed under federal monitoring after a series of troubling incidents, was arrested on Thursday on charges of sexually assaulting a deaf, mute and mentally disabled patient.

Investigators said the custodian, Larry J. Taylor, 30, attacked the 28-year-old patient on Feb. 11 as he took a shower. Mr. Taylor was charged with two felonies, first-degree criminal sex act and third-degree sexual abuse, the police said.

Last month officials at the city-run hospital agreed to allow a federal judge to monitor conditions at the psychiatric unit. The agreement followed a lawsuit filed by patients of the Brooklyn hospital and the 2008 death of a schizophrenic 49-year-old woman who had been taken to the psychiatric emergency room. The woman, Esmin Green, was left for 24 hours in a waiting room and was ignored even after she collapsed onto the floor. She died as a result of blood clots. The city later paid her family $2 million.

Earlier in 2008, a scathing Justice Department report documented a pattern of sexual and other violent assaults among patients in the psychiatric unit.

“We are aware of the serious allegations against the employee and are fully cooperating with police in their investigation,” said Ana Marengo, a spokeswoman for the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation. “We will not be able to comment about the alleged incident.”

Investigators said that the 28-year-old patient told family members and hospital social workers that he had been sexually assaulted. The investigators reviewed the records of employees who worked that day to find potential suspects. The police said that although the victim was deaf, mute and mentally disabled, he was able to provide investigators with helpful information. “All I’ll say is that he was helpful in the identification,” said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.

The suspect, Mr. Taylor, does not have a criminal record.

The lawsuit that led to the monitoring agreement, filed by the Mental Hygiene Legal Service, the New York Civil Liberties Union and mentally ill patients who were treated at the hospital, alleged that the psychiatric unit was “a chamber of filth, decay, indifference and danger.”

On Jan. 8, the city, the Justice Department and the plaintiffs from the lawsuit reached an agreement on a consent decree that allowed a federal judge to monitor the unit.