Medical technician accused of raping patient in hospital
Personal Injury News
Article Date: 6/29/2009 | Resource: MLG
Medical technician accused of raping patient in hospital
“Authorities say patient was intoxicated and unable to fight back when an EMT raped her in Mission Hospital.”
An emergency medical technician was arrested Thursday on suspicion of raping a woman inside a hospital while she was too intoxicated to resist, authorities said, adding it’s possible there could be more victims.
Investigators said DNA linked 31-year-old Jesse Karim Pena, of Winchester, to the rape of a patient at Mission Hospital, who told officials she was assaulted while receiving medical care at the hospital, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Pena was taken into custody Thursday afternoon at his mother’s home in Ontario, Amormino said. He is expected to appear in court Monday at 9 a.m. for an arraignment hearing.
Prosecutors are expected to request a $500,000 bail at the hearing.
The victim, identified only as a 31-year-old woman, was taken to Mission Hospital by ambulance on Feb. 20.
Deputies received a 911 call from the hospital and the woman told investigators that she felt as if she had been raped, Amormino said.
The woman was semi-conscious and intoxicated during the assault, but she told investigators she felt that someone raped her.
According to the indictment, the victim was unable to resist because of “an intoxicating substance, an anesthetic substance, and a controlled substance.”
Three EMTs were found to have had access to the woman at the hospital and investigators took DNA evidence from all of them, Amormino said. On Thursday, DNA from the victim’s gown was found to match Pena.
“This is a hideous crime,” Amormino said. “One should expect to get treated and this is the last thing you have to worry about.”
Pena works as an independent contractor EMT and has worked in hospitals in Riverside, San Diego and Orange County in the last four years, Amormino said. Investigators are looking to see which hospitals he worked in.
Pena worked three times in Mission Hospital in October and November 2008, and also in February, Amormino said.
For more information regarding this article please contact:
Jeffrey Marquart
(949)589-0150
jmarquart@marquartlawgroup.com