Social worker charged with abusing mental hospital patients

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — A licensed clinical social worker has been charged with sexually assaulting patients while working at a Southern California psychiatric hospital, prosecutors said.

The alleged abuse occurred between 2014 and 2018 at Patton State Hospital east of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Wednesday.

The defendant, a 63-year-old man from Redlands, faces nine felony counts including rape of a person incapable of giving consent and oral copulation of an incompetent person, the statement said.

Bail was set at $2 million. The defendant’s next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 2.

The arrest came following an investigation by the Department of State Hospitals’ Office of Protective Services, the DA’s office said.