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Date: SAT 08/18/90 Section: A Page: 26 Edition: 2 STAR Male nurse abused two boys, suit claims/Damages on sexual allegations sought against Charter Hospital of Kingwood By JULIE MASON Staff State District Judge David West signed an order keeping the names of the youths confidential. They are identified in court papers only as John Doe and Ken Roe. Doe was 13 when he was admitted to Charter in 1988, suffering from common adolescent behavior problems, according to attorney Jimmy . The boy was befriended by a nurse in the adolescent psychiatric unit, whom Charter hired only days after he was fired for drug abuse from Cypress-Fairbanks Hospital in Houston, the lawsuit claims. On several occasions during Doe's hospitalization, the lawsuit alleges, the nurse exposed himself to Doe and generally harassed him. Upon Doe's release, the nurse began a series of phone calls to the boy's home. Doe informed his mother of the calls and began taping his conversations with the nurse, a transcript of which was submitted with the lawsuit. The conversation between the boy and his former nurse is described in court papers as containing "incredibly filthy, repulsive, disgusting, obscene material." Doe now suffers an inherent distrust of health-care workers and has been unable to obtain the treatment he needs, Williamson said. About the same time that Doe was at Charter, 16-year-old Roe also was admitted to the hospital for adolescent behavior problems, according to the lawsuit. The nurse, who allegedly had access to the boys' medical files, learned that Roe had used drugs and gained the boy's confidence by promising not to tell anyone, the lawsuit claims. Upon Roe's release, the suit contends, the nurse invited the boy to live with him and his homosexual roommate. According to the lawsuit, the two men, with Roe in tow, embarked upon a lifestyle of "decadent, repulsive behavior." The nurse allegedly provided Roe with drugs in return for sex and took him out to bars, according to the lawsuit. "He never would have known these kids but for the fact that Charter hired him," Williamson said. The lawsuit says Charter was negligent because the hospital knew or should have known about the nurse's background when they hired him. Attorneys for Charter could not be reached for comment. Williamson said he is seeking damages for Roe, Doe and Doe's mother. The male nurse is not a defendant in the Charter suit. |