Medical Worker Sexually Assaulted Sedated Patient, Arrested

A Scottsdale, Arizona, pain treatment center medical worker was arrested Wednesday for sexually assaulting a patient under sedation.

Xavier Uziel Perez, 38, an employee at the Integrated Pain Consultants, was accused of sexually assaulting a 48-year-old woman who was under sedation while undergoing treatment on her back. The incident took place on June.25, 2018.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Scottsdale police said as the victim regained her consciousness, she believed the male worker providing her care in the recovery room sexually assaulted her and later identified Perez, the AZ Central reported.

Police gathered evidence to confirm the victim’s account and arrested Perez.

Kevin Watts, Scottsdale Police public information officer, said, “So it’s been ongoing from the initial contact, that being interviews with parties involved … the suspect, many potential witness, but more importantly, there was forensic evidence that was gathered as part of the investigation, and that just takes time for those results to come back and (be) rechecked and followed up on. And so that kind of makes up for the time frame. It’s a lengthy process, but we were able to establish through that evidence the probable cause for the arrest of Mr. Perez,” KTAR reported.

The accused admitted to the assault during an interrogation prior to the arrest. He, however, told police it was a one-time occurrence. Perez was arrested and charged with sexual assault.

Police said detectives were looking into whether there were other victims as the accused worked at all Integrated Pain Consultants branches in Arizona. Scottsdale Police Department has asked anyone who may have been a victim to contact 480-312-5000.

The incident came to light a few months after Nathan Sutherland, an Arizona nurse, was accused of sexually assaulting an incapacitated patient who gave birth to a baby in December 2018. Sutherland, a former employee at Hacienda Healthcare, was responsible for looking after the 29-year-old woman who was disabled since the age of 3. The patient gave birth to a baby boy, much to the shock of the staff at the facility who were unaware of the woman’s pregnancy. Police said the DNA of the accused matched with that of the baby. He was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault. The case was ongoing in the court.