2/23/2010
By TIM UNRUH Salina Journal

A Salina man with a long criminal history was arrested Saturday, accused of raping an elderly patient at Salina Regional Health Center.

Paul Henry Parker Jr., 46, was detained by hospital employees and then turned over to Salina police officers, Deputy Salina Police Chief Carson Mansfield said.

Police allege the rape occurred about 8 p.m. Saturday in the room of the patient, who is in her 90s. Mansfield said it appeared to be a random act.

"A nurse found (Parker) in the room when she was checking on patients," he said. "There was a disturbance."

Other employees arrived quickly, Mansfield said, and Parker was "forcibly detained."

Nurses and maintenance workers held Parker, said Mike Terry, Salina Regional president and CEO.

"I think it's a real credit to our staff. There was a very quick response from them. They succeeded in subduing the alleged perpetrator and held him until police arrived," Terry said.

When officers arrived, Mansfield said, hospital employees were holding Parker by his arms, and officers placed handcuffs on his wrists.

"They did a good job," he said.

It's unknown why Parker was in the hospital. He was not there as a patient, Terry said.

"Apparently, he came in off the street, and from what I was told, he was in regular street clothes," Terry said.

The Kansas Department of Corrections confirmed Monday that Parker, who was released Jan. 15 from a work facility in Hutchinson, was wearing a global positioning system bracelet as a condition of his postrelease supervision.

His curfew was 10 p.m., Corrections spokesman Bill Miskell said.

"The way the monitoring program works, if they are not where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there, we get an alert," he said.

Whether the corrections department received an alert when Parker broke his curfew Saturday night -- he was booked into the Saline County Jail early Sunday morning -- was not immediately known.

"We would have responded in some fashion to the curfew violation. I don't know in this case what the response on a curfew violation would have been," Miskell said.

He promised to research other details of Parker's postrelease supervision.

"I know that he was under the moderate level of supervision. We have several levels," Miskell said.

Hospital spokeswoman Beth Vinson initially declined comment Monday morning, "at the request of the patient and the family," she said.

Later Monday, Salina Regional released a statement that Vinson said was approved by the victim's family.

The hospital wrote that it was "saddened by this alleged crime ... and very glad the alleged perpetrator is in police custody," noting that the suspect "is a lifelong criminal."

"We're very proud of the quick and decisive actions taken by our employees in subduing him before he could escape and be able to do it again," the statement reads.

Parker has been imprisoned numerous times since 1984 for convictions for burglary, aggravated burglary, theft, forgery and indecent liberties with a child, according to the Department of Corrections.

He most recently served prison time for felony forgery and misdemeanor theft convictions and was under supervision of a state parole officer, Miskell said.

"Unfortunately, this type of crime could have happened anywhere at any time. The fact that this happened at our hospital is a totally random event," the Salina Regional statement reads.

While the hospital is "committed 100 (percent) to patient safety," the hospital wrote that it doesn't want to impede the rights of "family members and loved ones" to visit patients in the hospital.

Salina Regional is evaluating its security, Terry said, in a telephone interview.

"Hospitals are places where families like to have the opportunity to visit their loved ones," he said. "We already have restricted visiting hours."

Visiting hours expire at 8:30 p.m. and the hospital's doors, other than those at the emergency department, are locked at 9 p.m, Terry said.

"Whether we will take that further, I really can't say," he said. "At present, we do not think we have areas that are not secure."

The hospital is considering hiring a security company that specializes in health care facilities, to do an audit.

"We're looking at everything we can, to even remotely consider," Terry said. "We maintain very good staffing with nurses and nurse aides, and maintenance. People are here 24/7."

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.

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