Nurse charged with raping a patient at Independence hospital
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. June 21 2019
The Jackson County Prosecutor says a nurse has been charged with raping a patient at an Independence hospital.
The prosecutor said Wednesday that 35-year-old Chukwuemeka Emmanuel, of Overland Park, Kansas, is charged with first-degree rape.
Emmanuel was a “float nurse” employed by Parallon.
Centerpoint Medical Center officials said in a statement that he had been fired.
In a statement issued late Wednesday night, the hospital said the nurse “has been terminated and is no longer employed with the hospital.”
“Maintaining the health and safety of our patients and community, while providing quality, compassionate care, is always our top priority,” the hospital’s statement said. “Upon learning of this incident, we immediately partnered with local law enforcement on the investigation and the nurse had no further contact with patients. We began our internal investigation and involved the appropriate regulatory agencies. What is alleged to have happened to this patient is intolerable … We are focused on the health and well-being of this patient and are committed to providing her support during this time.”
The investigation began on the morning of June 16 after Independence police received a report of a sexual assault of a woman who was receiving medical care at the hospital.
The patient told police the assault happened the night before, about 11:40 p.m. June 15. She said she had asked her nurse, Emmanuel, to help clean her because her catheter was leaking.
While he was cleaning, he pulled down his pants and raped her, court records said.
At the time of the alleged assault, the patient was being administered morphine and other narcotics for pain management, the hospital told police.
Court records said the patient told Emmanuel several times he was hurting her and told him to stop. At one point, she told Emmanuel he was going to get in trouble. He allegedly replied, “No it’s OK. We won’t get caught.”
During the investigation, another nurse at Centerpoint, who said she was in a relationship with Emmanuel, told police Emmanuel called her and told her he was going to Nigeria because he had been accused of rape. She believed he was in New York or Nigeria.
The prosecutor’s office filed the rape charge against Emmanuel Wednesday. Bond has been set at $100,000 and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
