A patient at a behavioral-health facility
Officers say woman at mental health facility was sedated
told police the devil wanted him to rape a fellow patient, according to Orlando Police.
A behavioral health patient said she was raped while sedated and restrained in a seclusion room, according to Orlando police.
Another patient, Darryl Vann, told police the devil wanted him to rape the woman, an Orlando Police arrest affidavit states.
Police were called about 1:30 p.m. Oct. 16 about the allegation, which was made about 11:50 p.m. the night before at Aspire Health at 1800 Mercy Drive.
A nurse, Seneka Arrington, told officers she saw Vann walk out of the room.
He told her, “That’ll shut her up. I had to do something,” according to the report.
The woman inside the room was restrained by her wrists and ankles and had been sedated twice, Arrington told officers. The room the woman was in was part of the simple receiving center, which is where clients who are typically committed involuntarily and are in distress are screened for placement, said Todd Dixon, director of community relations for Aspire Health. Monitoring cameras are in the room and a staffer should have made documentation every 15 minutes, he added.
The woman told police Vann raped her twice, according to the report. Vann, 35, has a history of making sexual advances to staff members, Arrington told police.
Aspire Health Partners officials are investigating and are reviewing policies and procedures, Dixon said. And Vann should not have had access to the room, he said.
“If we find our procedures were lacking, or our staff were not following those procedures, then we will take the appropriate action,” Dixon said.
Aspire Health Partners is one of the triage facilities where police officers take people who are suffering from mental illness or substance abuse. The state legislature earlier this year cut about 40
percent of funding to the centers, and Aspire eliminated about 70 full-time positions, president and CEO Dick Jacobs said in August.
In the last three years, Orlando Police have been called to the center 10 times for sexually related offenses, Dixon said. Of those calls, this is the only one in which there was evidence of a sexual act occurring in the center, he said. Four of the calls were made because patients told staffers about sexual assaults that occurred before they were brought to the center, he added.
The Orlando Sentinel has requested reports from previous calls.
Police took Vann into custody for questioning. He urinated in his pants and defecated in the department interview room, according to the report. He banged the inside of the patrol car and yelled profanities at officers, according to the report.
Vann, of Orlando, was sedated in order to take him into custody, the report states. While he was being sedated, he said he should have hurt the woman more and told officers they wouldn’t find evidence of rape. He also asked officers for advice.
“Is there a good defense for me to say that she wanted me to do it? I am not going to life for this,” he said according to the report.
Vann told the officers he knew how to work the system to get a lesser charge. He also said people wouldn’t believe the woman, according to the report,
“I already know how this works and what to say. I am going to get 10 months and be let go for sexual misconduct,” he said, according to the report.
Vann was charged with sexual battery on a helpless victim and sanitary nuisance. He remained Tuesday in the Orange County Jail on $20,100 bail.