New Westminster police have arrested a North Vancouver man and charged him with sexual assault after an alleged attack on a woman awaiting treatment in the emergency department of Royal Columbian Hospital.
The alleged assault happened just after 11 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, according to police.
The alleged victim, who cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban, said she had just been admitted to the hospital with pelvic pain and placed in an examination room when the assault happened.
"This stranger off the street came in and sexually assaulted me, and I froze. I didn't know what to do. You always think about what you would do if that happened to you, but I was frozen," she told The Record. "He was kissing me all up and down my neck and my arm and side, and he went to kiss me on the mouth and put his hand under the blanket."
When she worked up the courage to tell the man to stop, he left the room and told her he would go find her help. It was then she called a nurse to report what happened.
Meanwhile, a doctor attempted to restrain the man, but he broke free and was caught outside the emergency room by hospital staff.
Police arrested him at the scene.
The accused is 29-year-old Aaron Edward Abernathy, a North Vancouver resident.
Abernathy appeared in New Westminster court for a bail hearing on Dec. 5, but he was remanded until his next court date on Dec. 12 in Vancouver.
The alleged victim said hospital staff should never have let the man walk through the emergency department and into an examination room without being questioned.
She added that she does not like the way she's been treated by the Fraser Health Authority since the incident.
"I've not received a formal apology from the hospital itself. It's like they want it to just go away," she said.
She has also contacted a lawyer and plans to bring a lawsuit based on the incident.
"I do plan on suing. It shouldn't happen. It should never have happened," she said, holding back tears. "I had a nurse tell me that in all her 20 years of nursing, this has never happened."
Roy Thorpe-Dorward, senior public affairs officer for Fraser Health, said the health authority deeply regrets the incident and that staff at all hospitals are committed to the good care of patients.
As for security, Thorpe-Dorward said 500,000 people pass through Fraser Health emergency departments every year, and incidents are "exceedingly rare."
"Hospitals are not secured environments. People come and go all the time," he said, referring to patients, visitors and staff who do not need to check in with security before entering.
He said there are four security guards on duty at Royal Columbian at all times, and all staff are trained in emergency response.
"In this case, staff responded immediately in response to her cries for help, and were able to detain the person and call security who responded right away and also, New West police were called," he said.
"There was nothing to indicate when this person entered the area that there was any threat or any intention to commit any harm. It's difficult to guard against that kind of random thing."
