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4 Charged In Hospital Rape Case
Hospital Employees Failed To Report Incident, Prosecutors Say
POSTED: 3:31 pm MST May 6,
2008
UPDATED: 8:41 pm MST May 6,
2008
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Prosecutors have filed charges against four hospital employees alleging they failed to report the sexual assault of a stroke patient, said Sgt. Mark Clark of the Scottsdale Police Department.Susan G. Livengood, 53, of Mesa, an associate vice president; Shelly M. VanVianen, 45, of Phoenix, a nurse manager; Patricia Crellin, 44, of Phoenix, a psychiatrist and Madlyn Costantino, 59, of Tempe, a rehab coordinator were charged with one count of failure to report assault of an incapacitated/vulnerable adult.Police were called to Scottsdale Healthcare-Osborn Hospital on Jan. 14 by a security supervisor reporting a sexual assault of one of the hospital patients, Clark said.The officer assigned to the incident discovered that a complaint was reported to the hospital on Dec. 12, 2007, Clark said.
The officer discovered that during the time the hospital learned of the incident and its report to police, the hospital staff had been conducting what was described as an "internal investigation" into the incident, according to Clark.The officer took the initial information from the victim and hospital staff, and then the case was turned over to the Scottsdale Police Department's sex crimes detectives.As detectives uncovered more details, they found that the incident was alleged to have occurred on Nov. 17, however, the victim was incapacitated and therefore unable to report the crime until Dec. 12, according to Clark.Detectives conducted an exhaustive investigation but the investigation was inconclusive and no suspect was identified, Clark said.Clark said the investigation revealed that the victim's therapist learned of the incident on Dec. 12 and notified her supervisor.After that, other levels of management were notified, Clark said. At some point, the decision was made to not immediately notify the police, Clark said.Clark said those charged were made aware of the allegations, however did not report it to the police as required."The messages are pretty clear in the state law," Clark said. "It needs to be reported immediately."CBS 5 News tried to talk to all four but no one answered at their homes when a reporter knocked.The four employees are scheduled to appear in court on May 15.Police still don't have a suspect in the woman's sexual assault.ELSEWHERE ON KPHO.COM: A professional clown is accused of stealing $500,000 from an elderly widow. CLICK HERE for details. MORE SLIDESHOWS: From the bizarre to the tragic to late-breaking news, visit the KPHO.com slideshow section and click away! CLICK HERE for images.
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