A Hornell, N.Y., family has filed suit against The Pavilion at Bradford Regional Medical Center for allegedly failing to keep their elderly father safe from the alleged sexual predation by another patient.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Erie, alleges the victim, an elderly man suffering from a mild/moderate form of dementia, was a resident of The Pavilion in 2014. Some time during that year, Richard Knight, 57, was accepted into the facility as a patient. Knight had been a resident of Evergreen Elm, and had “aggressive tendencies” and was a “risk to other defenseless residents of the facility, the lawsuit alleged.
Knight was placed into a room with the victim, “without adequate supervisor or appropriate safeguards” to assure the victim’s safety. Prior to January 2015, the victim’s son had seen Knight have inappropriate contact with his father, including putting his fingers in the victim’s ears, the suit alleged. When the son complained, he was assured his father would be cared for and the contact would end, the suit alleged.
In November and December 2014, the victim complained to his family that his genitals were sore. During that time, the staff and administration did nothing to separate Knight from the victim, the suit alleged.
On Jan. 27, 2015, employees at the Pavilion heard the victim yelling “get this monkey off me,” and found Knight with his hands in the victim’s underpants. As a result of the alleged physical abuse, the victim had to have a testicle surgically removed, the suit alleged.
Knight was criminally charged, pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment and served one year of probation as a penalty, according to court dockets.
The suit alleges negligence, vicarious liability and corporate liability.
In a response filed by attorneys from the Pavilion and BRMC, the allegations are denied. The attorneys also argue the suit fails to state a claim on which relief can be granted, is barred by the statute of limitations and that the injuries alleged were not caused by the defendants in the suit, the court record read.
According to the federal court docket, the case was selected for mandatory mediation. A mediation has been scheduled for April 28 before Attorney Thomas Waffenschmidt in South Williamsport.
A BRMC spokesman on Wednesday declined to comment on the litigation.
