Certified Nursing Assistant at Dominican Hospital arrested on sexual assault charges

UPDATED 9/3/19 9:46 p.m.:

Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz says the sexual assault allegations against one of their employees are extremely distressing and they’ve placed Peter Francis Dunne on administrative leave. Now, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office says there could be more victims.

Dunne is a certified nursing assistant at Dominican Hospital. He faces felony charges after being arrested Friday for allegedly sexually assaulting a female patient under his care.

The Sheriff’s Office says Dunne was working in the emergency department when the assault happened.

“The investigation has reveled that there was a portion of time where the two were alone and that’s when the assault occurred,” said Sheriff’s Office PIO Dee Baldwin.

The assault reportedly happened back in March, but the arrest happened just last week. Baldwin told KION it took this long because it’s a serious allegation.

“We want to make sure that we have every piece of information that’s available to us to substantiate that,” Baldwin said.

Dominican Hospital said in a statement to KION that they take the allegations very seriously and “while we have strong patient safety policies and procedures already in place, we are constantly reviewing all practices to identify any opportunities for improvement.”

The Sheriffs Office said it’s highly likely this is not an isolated event.

“In this particular instance, the behavior and the pattern of events that lead up to this assault has caused our investigators to think that there’s likely other people that have fallen victim to this,” Baldwin said.

The hospital says they’ll continue to cooperate with the Sheriff’s Office. They’re also conducting a parallel investigation.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information can contact Sergeant Chris Shearer with the Santa Cruz County Sheriffs office at (831) 454-7645.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A Certified Nursing Assistant with Dominican Hospital was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a female patient.

46-year-old Peter Francis Dunne is facing charges that include assault with intent to rape, sexual assault with force and oral copulation by force.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said the assault happened in late March while Dunne was working in the emergency department. The Sheriff’s Office said the incident was reported the day after it happened.

Detectives obtained a warrant for Dunne’s arrest on Aug. 30. He was arrested at his home and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail.

Investigators are looking for other victims, witnesses or information about the crimes Dunne is suspected of. They believe he had access to more patients outside of the hospital.

If you have any information, you are asked to call Sergeant Chris Shearer at 831-454-7645.