Nurse who abused more than 17 psychiatric patients had already been reported, but was not replaced due to lack of staff

On April 6, a new case of sexual abuse was released inside a hospital. According to national media, a nursing assistant identified as Jorge Enrique Pérez Castro, attached to the Mental Health Unit of La Victoria Hospital, which is located in the town of San Cristóbal, south of Bogotá, had abused at least 17 psychiatric patients and was discovered by a worker in the health institution.

After the scandal that has put the directors of La Victoria in trouble broke out, El Tiempo announced that Perez was known for his strange behavior and had been denounced on multiple occasions by his teammates, even a long time ago. The worrying thing in this case is that under the excuse of not having enough staff they left him regardless of the red flags and without having asked.

“A year ago, that situation had been reported. I can't believe that over the abuse of a woman, there is a need for staff,” said an employee to the Colombian newspaper, who is surprised because at the time of investigating some 17 victims, among those minors, they told the nursing assistant of having taken advantage of his position to abuse them, taking advantage of their level of sedation by drugs used to treat this type of disease.

Faced with the delicate situation, the Ministry of Health opened an investigation and decided on a temporary basis to close the psychiatric unit at La Victoria Hospital, it should be clarified that the patients were relocated to other centers in Bogotá.

“As a result of the verification visits carried out and in view of the evidence of risk in human talent and priority processes, security measures were imposed on April 5 consisting of temporary and preventive closure of the mental hospitalization service of the La Victoria health services unit,” the entity said, adding: “In in relation to the alleged punishable acts that may have been committed, the judicial authorities shall be responsible for clarifying and imposing the corresponding sanctions. Likewise, it is up to the ethics courts to advance the proceedings related to the alleged ethical-professional failures of health personnel that may be involved.”

The situation was made known by a head nurse who found him hiding behind the door of one of the rooms during his break, after a patient shouted: “On Friday night they found one of the nurses in a room with four patients, one of them was immobilized by hands and feet. He (Pérez Castro) was supposedly at his break time, when they heard one of the patients screaming, the head nurse came and found the nurse hiding behind the door, another of the patients said that he was giving her oral sex and when they lifted her blanket, the woman had underwear under her knees and was more sedated than usual, she could not say a word,” Susana Vélez, a hospital worker, told RCN Radio.

The most serious aspect of the situation is that Pérez Castro, upon learning of the legal proceedings against him, embarked on the flight and so far there is no trace of him.

“He came in turn as if nothing had happened, and they wouldn't let him in, he said they couldn't prove anything to him and that he was going to go on with his normal life. But the orderly told him that he had an arrest warrant and that they were looking for him, at that moment he said “ah they are looking for me, oh well thank you”, he left the hospital and disappeared,” the woman told RCN Radio.

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