A former nursing assistant fondled and sexually assaulted a mentally ill woman at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center while the woman was in full restraints, a Forsyth County prosecutor said Wednesday.
Abdul-Hanan Saleem Butt, 24, of Hamilton Avenue, pleaded guilty in Forsyth Superior Court to sex offense at an institution.
Judge David Hall of Forsyth Superior Court sentenced Butt to a year and six months to six years and 10 months in prison. Butt will also have to register as a sex offender for a period of 30 years once he is released from prison.
Butt had been working as a certified nursing assistant at Baptist in January. A woman was admitted to the hospital for mental illness and Butt was assigned to her room, Assistant District Attorney Elisabeth Dresel said.
On Jan. 12, Butt brought the woman a cup of ice, talked to her for a bit and read her a poem. At some point, Dresel said, Butt fondled the woman and she performed oral sex on him. The woman was in restraints, and her bed had to be lowered during the incident, Dresel said.
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The incident was captured on a live video feed from the room, and nurses outside the woman’s door contacted hospital officials. Baptist officials talked to the woman and to Butt, who initially denied anything happened, Dresel said. A day later, however, the woman told a hospital chaplain that Butt had sexually assaulted her, and Winston-Salem police were contacted.
In an interview with Winston-Salem police, Butt gave a statement admitting the sexual assault, Dresel said.
The woman said in a victim impact statement in February that she has had issues with intimacy since the sexual assault. In recent talks with prosecutors, the woman has said she continues to have problems and also has nightmares. She also told prosecutors that the incident has made her have to deal with past sexual abuse.
Charlie Mellies, Butt’s attorney, said Butt has taken responsibility for his actions. Butt thought he and the woman had consensual sex but he now understands that the woman was not in a position to give consent because of her illness, Mellies said.
Butt no longer works at Baptist and his CNA license has been revoked by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
“All I can say is I’m sorry,” Butt said before Hall sentenced him.