MCPO investigating patient sexual assault at Ann Klein

Prosecutors and New Jersey State Police are investigating the sexual assault of a patient at Ann Klein Forensic Center, authorities confirmed.

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office special victims unit is involved in the probe after a patient-on-patient rape that happened Friday, a spokeswoman said Monday.

State Police also confirmed that an investigation is underway of an incident that was reported Friday morning, but provided no other details.

A man who claimed to be an employee at Ann Klein phoned The Trentonian anonymously and claimed the rape happened when a guard left his post.

He contended that a male patient dragged a female patient into a bathroom where she was gang-raped by at least five people.

MCPO spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio wouldn’t confirm those details as the investigation continues. No one has been charged.

The rape comes the same month The Trentonian detailed escalating violence at the state-run psychiatric center in Trenton, which houses about 200 inpatients, most of whom come from county jails or state prisons and who have been determined by the courts to be “not guilty by reason of insanity” or “incompetent to stand trial.”

Several workers came forward complaining of increased attacks on staff members. At least five patient-on-patient assaults have occurred at Ann Klein during the first six months of 2018, according to data reports.

Staff who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation told of instances in which a doctor was knocked unconscious and a security officer suffered a brain bleed at the hands of a violent patient.

“You are not supposed to work and feel like a punching bag,” an Ann Klein security officer said. “It’s bad. The average day is gearing yourself up mentally to expect the unexpected. You don’t know what to expect from the administration or patients.”

Earlier this year, Ann Klein patient Dwayne Hester was indicted in the heinous killing of 55-year-old Daniel Rodriguez.

Ann Klein was cited last December for patient safety and care by a nonprofit accrediting organization, the Joint Commission.

Officials said they would implement measures to tighten up security.

Those changes, done so the facility could maintain accreditation, included the scrapping of a lockdown policy that employees said helped maintain order.

It required patients to stay inside their rooms for operational and administrative reasons during three shifts each day, the employees said.

The forensic center also resorted to locking up patients during any time the facility was short-staffed.

The state eliminated the administrative lock-in policy on all shifts in June, according to a state DOH report dated Aug. 22.