Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 21, 1995 TAG: 9506210107
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Still groggy from the effects of morphine and back surgery, a 31-year-old woman awoke in her hospital bed the night of Oct. 7, 1994, to find a nursing assistant sexually abusing her.
A judge convicted Hubert Wayne Thompson, an employee of Roanoke Memorial Hospital, of sexual battery after hearing the woman's testimony Tuesday.
``When I entered the hospital, I thought I was in a very safe and secure environment,'' the woman testified, fighting back tears and pausing several times to compose herself. ``I never could have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would be violated.''
Thompson - who, according to court records, previously was accused of sexually abusing another patient but never charged - will face a maximum sentence of 12 months in jail when he is sentenced in August.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Teaster had argued that Thompson took advantage of the woman's ``physical helplessness'' caused by her medical condition and the effects of the morphine.
``She was unconscious at the time this began,'' he told Roanoke Circuit Judge Robert P. Doherty.
Thompson, 31, denied the woman's allegations that he fondled her. But he testified that some of her other complaints - that he changed her gown, assisted her with a bedpan and rubbed lotion on her thighs while they were alone in the hospital room - were just a part of his job.
``My client was doing his duty,'' defense attorney Richard Lawrence argued, calling him a ``loving, caring nurse.''
Thompson's conviction could have a chilling effect on other male nursing assistants, who may hesitate to care for female patients ``because they don't want to go through what Mr. Thompson has gone through,'' Lawrence said.
``What concerns me about all of this is whether or not a case like this is going to jeopardize the future care of patients in hospitals,'' he said.
But in convicting Thompson of the misdemeanor charge, Doherty cautioned that ``the hospital is not on trial here, nor is the system of patient care in the Roanoke Valley.''
Instead, he said, ``this whole case boils down to a question of the credibility of the witnesses.'' Doherty said he did not find Thompson's testimony believable.
Thompson had testified that he asked the woman, who spent one night at the hospital after undergoing back surgery, if she would feel more comfortable with a female nursing assistant. The woman testified that Thompson made no such inquiry.
Hilda Taylor, a nurse who supervised Thompson at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, testified that there is a ``common courtesy practice'' for a nurse to ask a patient of the opposite sex if he or she is comfortable with the situation. If not, she said, a nurse of the same sex can be requested.
The nursing assistant job description is a ``uni-sex'' position, she said, and it would not be unusual for males to care for females, performing such duties as changing gowns and assisting with bedpans.
But while no one seems to complain about female nurses caring for male patients, Lawrence said, ``a red flag goes up when we have the reverse.''
Thompson, who completed eight weeks of training for his nonlicensed job as a nursing assistant, testified that he has worked for Roanoke Memorial about seven years.
According to court records, a female patient accused him of sexually assaulting her at the hospital prior to the Oct. 7 incident. Roanoke Memorial officials have declined to comment on the case, calling it a personnel issue. No criminal charges were filed.
In a statement to Detective M.S. Rubeiz of the Roanoke Police Department, Thompson discounted the woman's allegations. But he added that hospital officials gave him a verbal reprimand after conducting an investigation and told him ``just to be careful and stay away from female patients.''
After Thompson was accused of assaulting the woman Oct. 7, he was placed on suspension and later transferred to the hospital's warehouse and materials management department, where he does not have contact with patients.
The allegations against him came to light when the 31-year-old woman contacted a lawyer after leaving the hospital. The lawyer attended Tuesday's trial with a court reporter to record the testimony, but declined to comment when asked about a possible lawsuit against the hospital.
by CNB