Mass. General medical assistant charged with raping patient at Back Bay health center

A Massachusetts General Hospital medical assistant was charged with rape and indecent assault and battery on Thursday after prosecutors say he sexually assaulted a patient at the hosptial’s health center in Back Bay. 

Damien Knighton, 39, of East Boston was arraigned Thursday in Roxbury District Court.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Boston police responded Wednesday around 3:40 p.m. to the MGH Back Bay Healthcare Center on Commonwealth Avenue where the officers were told by the victim that he was sexually assaulted by Knighton. The patient said he’d been at the office for a follow-up appointment related to an injury to his shoulder and leg when the medical assistant, Knighton, approached him and said the doctor had requested another test. 

The victim told officers Knighton asked him to remove his clothes and told him he would be examining his penis and testicles. Knighton then allegedly “moved the victim’s penis side to side, touched his testicles, and asked if blood was rushing to his penis,” the DA’s office said. 

“Knighton then inserted his finger into the victim’s rectum,” the DA’s office said. “He then asked him to turn around and repeated the insertion for a second time.”

Afterward, the patient got dressed and asked other staff at the medical office about the examination allegedly conducted by Knighton and determined he had been sexually assaulted. 

In a statement, Massachusetts General Hospital said it takes the allegations against Knighton “very seriously” and that the health care institution is cooperating with investigators. 

“The individual has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident,” the hospital’s statement reads. “Patients are our first priority and we strive to provide a safe, comfortable, and welcoming environment for all who seek our care.”  

According to WCVB, Knighton is facing two charges of rape and indecent assault and battery, to which he has pleaded not guilty. 

He was ordered held Thursday on $5,000 bail and ordered not to have any contact with the victim or unsupervised access to patients. He will return to court Feb. 23 for a probable cause hearing.