DALLAS, Dec. 11, 2008
Sex Abuse Charges Hit EMT Profession
AP Probe Finds At Least 129 Workers Accused Of Sex-Related Crimes In Last 18 Months
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Several EMS officials said the number of complaints is troubling but does not necessarily point to an industrywide problem. They noted that the profession employs nearly 900,000 people in the U.S. (AP)
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Interactive Crime Beat Statistics and specifics on crime in America.
Over the past 18 months, at least 129 ambulance attendants across the U.S. have been accused of sex-related crimes on duty or off, an investigation by The Associated Press found. Some of them molested patients in the back of an ambulance.
"It's a dream job for a sexual predator," said Greg Kafoury, a Portland, Ore., lawyer who represents three women who were groped by a paramedic. "Everything is there: Women who are incapacitated, so they're hugely distracted. Medical cover to put your hands in places where, in any other context, a predator would be immediately recognized as such."
Across the U.S., emergency medical technicians have been accused in recent months of such crimes as rape, soliciting minors over the Internet and possession of child porn, according to an AP survey of the state agencies that oversee those professions.
Exactly how many of these EMTs were alleged to have committed their crimes on the job is unclear. But some of more shocking cases include:
State health officials in 23 states reported receiving sex-related complaints involving EMS workers. New York reported the most complaints - 17. Thirteen of the complaints were substantiated and resulted in workers losing their certification. Texas reported 13 complaints, Massachusetts 11 and Virginia 10. No breakdown was immediately available showing how many of those allegations involved sexual misconduct on the job.
Several EMS officials said the number of complaints is troubling but does not necessarily point to an industrywide problem. They noted that the profession employs nearly 900,000 people in the U.S.
"That number in and of itself doesn't shock me, knowing the number of providers we have in the country," said Steve Blessing, state EMS director in Delaware and president of the National Association of State EMS Officials. "Is even one case tolerable? I think most state directors would say no. But we're bound by reality here."
In Portland, paramedic Lannie Haszard was sentenced to five years in prison in August after pleading guilty to five counts of attempted sexual abuse. Haszard, 62, was charged with inappropriately touching four female patients while they were being taken by ambulance to hospitals.
Three of the women have sued Haszard and American Medical Response, his employer at the time. The lawsuits contend that the company, which operates ambulances in 40 states, failed to react to previous complaints about the paramedic's conduct.
Haszard's behavior came to light last December when a 28-year-old single mother of three, Royshekka Herring, told police that he touched her genitals while she was en route to the hospital for emergency treatment of a gastrointestinal condition.
In a recent taped deposition, Herring's voice shook with emotion as she described how a nurse tried to convince her that Haszard was probably performing an abdominal exam.
"I started yelling at her, because I didn't feel safe," Herring testified. "Somebody I never expected to touch me touched me."
A spokesman for American Medical Response had no comment on the case.
Former Dallas Fire Chief Steve Abraira suggested ambulances carry three workers. Ambulances usually have two - one in the front, one in the back.
"If there's a person predisposed to do something wrong, there's nobody there to witness or discourage that individual from doing something," said Abraira, now the fire chief in Palm Bay, Fla.
Twenty-eight states do not automatically bar known sex offenders from working as EMTs, the AP found.
Although most insist they would rarely, if ever, allow sex offenders to work those jobs, the AP found that Texas has knowingly allowed eight, Louisiana two and Maine, Virginia and North Carolina one each. There is no indication any of those people were accused of sexual misconduct after being allowed to work EMS jobs.
Twenty-two states strictly prohibit such offenders from working as EMTs.
"This is the type of person we don't want in the back of an ambulance with your mother or daughter," said March Tucker, an EMS regulator in West Virginia.
All but one of the eight registered sex offenders certified to work in Texas victimized children ranging in age from 6 to 16.
"Oh, my goodness, that's really scary," said Winfred Dean, who supervises the sex offender monitoring unit for the Harris County probation department in Houston. "I thought people like that would more than likely be eliminated."
Texas officials said state regulations call for EMS licensing decisions to be made on a case-by-case basis.
"The only thing we can do is follow the law, and the law allows this," said Maxie Bishop, state EMS director. "We have to take a look at the crime, how long it's been, the nature of it and what that person has done since."
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 26 Comments
- We are all about to be raped by this:
http://www.congresscheck.com/2008/12/12/globalist-constitutional-convention-dealt-a-defeat-in-ohio/
Yet, no major news agency is covering it. WHY NOT? - Reply to this comment
- I did that job with about 100 others,I always suspected one of them.
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Jeeez,, I was just giving that young boy a prostate exam,, one EMT said to the other.- Reply to this comment
- bad news sells. this whole article is nothing but bad news. this kind of thing is going to happen in any occupation. all this does is give the emt''s a bad name. how about telling us how many people at CBS have been arrested for *** crimes. that would be a much better story.
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- I didn''t see anything in the article about how often EMS workers deal with mentally unstable people. No mention of how often these workers are accused by people who have made bogus accusations in the past and how they have little or NO recourse once they are cleared of these charges since the mentally ill rarely have enough money to make a lawsuit worthwhile. Good, hard working people who have their lives turned upside down by lunatics with nowhere to turn. Where will YOU be when these good EMS workers get fed up and leave the profession?
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- ''''What a load-o-crapp. They are making it sound like EMT''''''''s are as bad as Catholic priests! Every profession has creeps in it. Heck...Every family has an Uncle Pervy in it. This is a non story.''''
Out of all the professions, heroism is the only thing deserving of it.
Posted by william8892
Every profession has it''''s ups and downs good and bad employees but when a crime is committed heroism is out the window and makes the entire organization look bad
Posted by wdh3007
thank you william and wdh - my husband is a Fire Chief and everyone who comes on board with his organization goes thru a grueling background check and a psyche eval by a professional who deals strictly w/ fire/ems - which should be mandatory and has served the dept very well - no mishaps and a close knit group - just wanted to extend a very heartfelt thanks for defending the masses of what they really represent... - Reply to this comment
- Every profession has it''s ups and downs good and bad employees but when a crime is committed heroism is out the window and makes the entire organization look bad
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- the thing I hate about these kinds of stories is the lack of context. There were 129 of these cases, but is that actually a large number? Is that high per-person compared to cops, teachers, surgeons, clergy? Is there any evidence that EMTs are doing this any more than anyone else? This is total *** scare tactic news reporting. Bad things happen. Good reporting puts those things into context so you can decide if there is any relevance to your life. Are we supposed to be scared of EMTs now? Personally, I still think they are usually pretty hot.
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- and then somone would sell the recorded video of a naked person in the ambulance.
But hey, "if it prevents one r-a-p-e, its worth it" - Reply to this comment
- "I don''t think that sexual predators will disappear with more access to prostitutes." posted here.
I completely disagree. They load us down with more propaganda that r-a-p-e is not about s-e-x, but then they turn right around and call it "sexual assault". The term sexual assualt actually replaced the term r-a-p-e as the official term...but it not about ***. Yea right. Seems they cannot decide amongst themselves what the motiviation is....or they dont want to know.
Truth is, if they acknowledge the sexual assault has a sexual component to it, they would have to consider legalizing prostitution to reduce crime....and that is why they put thier heads in the sand.
And they come out with some other social or legal device that further demonized men, they will say "if it prevents one r-a-p-e, it worth it" - Reply to this comment
- Simple: Put cameras in the EMT trucks.
JS - Reply to this comment
- This could be partially solved by security cameras in the back of the ambulance that would be viewed if there were allegations.
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- These kinds of unfortunate abuses will continue to increase as society continues to close off and demonize men''''''''s outlets for their natural instincts toward ***. We are unnaturally suppressing it.
Posted by CultureChang
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I don''t think that sexual predators will disappear with more access to prostitutes. Sexual predators prefer their victims to be defenseless.
Even child abusers that use very human-like dolls that look like toddlers eventually want to find a real, live, moving toddler because that toddler will try to get away.
Being in a position of power is what turns on a predator--not consensual ***. - Reply to this comment
- All that matters in the 129 case figure is how many were convicted of *** crimes while on the job. I believe we have a rule of law that states everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
Another problem, how many accidents to EMT''s answer across the country in the last 18 months? If I were in a serious accident, the EMT''s would be a welcome site. - Reply to this comment
- This is such a sad story... I will pray for them.
- Reply to this comment
- These kinds of unfortunate abuses will continue to increase as society continues to close off and demonize men''''s outlets for their natural instincts toward ***. We are unnaturally suppressing it. I am not justifying engagement of children or assault of sick or injured adults. I am saying we having been cultivating this social ill with the politically correct fad of a war on everything related to mostly men''''s sexual activities.
Posted by CultureChang at 05:08 PM : Dec 11, 2008
Great post!
What we are facing in the United States is Talibanization. - Reply to this comment
- Most of the *** offenders hang out in airport restrooms when off duty... the rest try to get 16 year old pen pals like Mark Foley.
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- Excellent observation DaVicar1. If it''s anything S-e-x, publish it with s-e-x as the first word....bury the fact down deep and censor the same word for the bloggers.
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- War on S-E-X. Doesn''t CBS actually use that word itself in its articles, but yet censors it for us bloggers. How politically correct and double standard can you get?
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- We are fully engaged in a War on *** in America as the media and sensationalists fuel the flames. The more they fuel...the more taboo *** becomes...and the easier the fire is to fuel. We didn''t have these criminal activities during the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s....a period which we have essentially forgotten.
These kinds of unfortunate abuses will continue to increase as society continues to close off and demonize men''s outlets for their natural instincts toward ***. We are unnaturally suppressing it. I am not justifying engagement of children or assault of sick or injured adults. I am saying we having been cultivating this social ill with the politically correct fad of a war on everything related to mostly men''s sexual activities.
American culture today is consumed with women''s sexual rights while many of the same proponents are dedicated to denying those same rights to men. For example, prostitution has become a felony in most states and it highly enforced at a federal level now. But abortion rights, while limited, still remain. The corner hooker is gone. The massage parlor is out of business at the hands of the FBI. The strip clubs are zoned out of town. - Reply to this comment
