Patient charged in alleged rape at Pembroke psychiatric facility
State investigated hospital last year
PEMBROKE - Pembroke Hospital, a private psychiatric facility that was the subject of a state investigation a year ago for alleged patient mistreatment and a variety of staff infractions, was the scene last week of an alleged nighttime rape of one patient by another.
According to the hospital, it is the first such case in the facility's history.
Twenty-one-year-old Frank Sampson of Brockton has been charged with rape and assault and battery on a person over 14 years old, said Plymouth Assistant District Attorney Bridget Norton Middleton.
Sampson was arraigned in Plymouth District Court on Thursday and taken to Bridgewater State Hospital, where he will remain until his pretrial hearing May 20, Middleton said.
The victim was taken to Jordan Hospital shortly after the alleged rape, which the criminal complaint said occurred at 10:30 on April 30. Neither the Plymouth district attorney's office nor Arbour Health System, the Boston-based parent company of Pembroke Hospital, would disclose the victim's whereabouts.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Pembroke police, a female patient found Sampson hiding behind the door of her room earlier on the evening of the alleged rape. She ordered him out, took her medications, and went to bed.
The victim said she awoke in a drowsy state and found a man sexually assaulting her in her bed. Although she told him to stop, Sampson held her wrists and raped her, according to the victim's statement to police.
A staff member discovered Sampson during the assault, the statement said.
Judy Merel of Arbour Health System said the rooms for men and women are not in separate wings of the hospital, but "all policies and procedures were followed by staff, including scheduled checks of the patients in their rooms" on the night of the alleged attack.
Inadequate staffing was one of the concerns cited in a report released by the state Department of Mental Health last summer. The state investigator noted in the report that "short staffing can contribute to a dangerous environment."
Based on the Department of Mental Health's conclusion last year that staffing levels were inadequate, hospital administrators agreed to cap the facility's admissions at 81. The hospital has 115 beds.
Merel said the hospital, with the approval of the Department of Mental Health, has been slowly increasing the admissions cap, to its current level of 100. Merel did not comment on staffing levels on the night of the alleged rape.
Alison Goodwin, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said the state is investigating the case. She had no other comment.
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