A custodian at Kings County Hospital Center has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a deaf, mute and mentally disabled psychiatric patient as he took a shower. The Daily News reports that 30-year-old Larry Taylor has been accused of attacking a 28-year-old patient on Feb. 11, and has been charged with first-degree criminal sex act and third-degree sexual abuse—both felonies, according to the Times.
The patient alerted family members of the attack two weeks ago, and relatives told hospital staff. "All I'll say is that he was helpful in the identification," said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne. The incident at the city-run medical center comes a month after officials agreed to allow a federal judge to monitor conditions in the psychiatric unit, following lawsuits alleging deplorable conditions and the death of a 49-year-old woman who perished in a waiting room after being ignored for 24 hours. The psychiatric facility also has a lengthy record of violence and sexual attacks, according to a Justice Department report.
"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." Last month, investigators found "credible evidence" that a 14-year-old boy at the state-run Bronx Psychiatric Center was the victim of "sexual abuse, sodomy, assault and violence" by another patient and an employee—who turned out to be a registered sex offender.
