State hospital sex assault lawsuits to be settled

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

The state plans to pay $143,000 to settle three federal lawsuits alleging that female psychiatric patients at the Hawai'i State Hospital were raped and sexually assaulted by male patients and a staff member.

The suits, filed in 1999 by the nonprofit Protection and Advocacy Agency of Hawaii, charged that the hospital violated patients' civil rights by failing to ensure their safety after warnings that assaults had occurred.

One of the alleged assailants was a convicted rapist who had served 20 years in prison before he was arrested on murder charges for allegedly strangling a cellmate at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center, according to court documents. He was sent to the state hospital when he was found mentally unfit to stand trial.

The agency, now known as Hawaii Disability Rights Center, charged that the hospital knew the patient's background — which also included convictions for robbery, kidnapping, assault and sodomy — but failed to keep him from vulnerable patients.

Another accused patient was described as a schizophrenic pedophile. He later pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting one of the women, who are referred to in the suits by pseudonyms.

But the state pointedly questioned the credibility of one of the alleged victims, who slit her wrists superficially with a razor blade following an alleged rape.

She had a well-documented history of manipulative and sexually provocative behavior at the hospital, had been admonished for showing male patients and staff members nude photos of herself, and had bragged that she would use money from the lawsuit to pay for cosmetic surgery, hospital workers reported.

The woman had a history of suicide attempts and told doctors she had worked as a stripper, had belonged to "a witchcraft group," and had been raped numerous times while under the influence of illegal drugs, according to evidence presented by the state.

She was sent to the hospital after she was arrested on the Big Island for robbing a woman at knifepoint while drunk in a bar, then assaulting two police officers, according to court documents.

The Attorney General's office investigated her second allegation, that a hospital paramedical assistant had repeatedly groped and fondled her, but found no evidence to substantiate the charges.

The suits, which asked for improvements to hospital security and unspecified general and punitive damages, have been settled pending approval by the Legislature. The state admitted no wrongdoing.

Hawaii Disability Rights Center president Gary Smith said he believes the state hospital has become much safer for patients.

Hospital administrator Paul Guggenheim, who has run the facility since September, said doctors had performed "risk assessments" for all patients who have histories of sex offenses and those who have been victims of such crimes. The hospital takes special precautions with patients from either group when deemed necessary, he said.

It is not uncommon for patients to report imagined sexual assaults, or actual rapes from the past as though they had just occurred, Guggenheim said, but the hospital treats all allegations seriously. He said several patients have reported rapes at the hospital since he took over, but none had been substantiated so far.

Male and female patients can interact in supervised environments, such as common rooms and outdoor areas, but are forbidden from visiting each other's bedrooms, he said.