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Sex assault at hospital prompts security questions

Healthcare Security Weekly, July 19, 2004

Security procedures at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco came under fire last week after an alleged sexual assault on a severely disabled woman, the San Francisco Examiner reports.

Julio Mestre, 50, faces sexual battery charges for the alleged attack. Mestre was visiting a relative in the hospital when he allegedly attacked the 37-year-old victim, who suffers from advanced stages of multiple sclerosis and cannot speak.

The abuse occurred on the morning of July 1, when Mestre allegedly entered the hospital ward, reached underneath the woman's bed sheets and touched her all over her body, according to police. While the patient's roommate protested, Mestre allegedly continue to fondle the victim. Then the roommate screamed for help and Mestre ran away, police said.

The next day Mestre allegedly returned to the woman's bed and the roommate yelled for help again. Security officers arrested Mestre.

"They didn't do anything to protect her. I think that's criminal," said Henry Farr, who reported the incident to officers after hearing details of the assault from the victim's roommate, who is a cancer patient at the hospital. "If I didn't report it and waited for Laguna Honda to report it, they never would have caught him."

Department of Public Health Director Dr. Mitch Katz said that as soon as nurses became aware of the alleged assault they tried to talk with the victim.

Security at Laguna hospital is provided by institutional police officers who do not have the full training of police officers or sheriff's deputies, the Examiner reports.

Katz said he had no concerns about the facility's security, noting that the alleged offender was visiting a relative in the hospital at the time and therefore, had a valid reason to be there.

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