The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Sex assault nurse could have more victims
AN NHS nurse who sexually assaulted a 85-year-old woman may have had more victims, police have suggested, shortly after he was convicted for the “horrendous attack”.
Steven Hicks was found guilty of attacking the “vulnerable” woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, following a trial at Reading Crown Court.
After the case, Thames Valley Police said they are “keeping an open mind” as to whether there are more victims.
The court heard Hicks attended the pensioner’s home, where she lived alone, wearing thick-rimmed glasses and medical clothing, including a surgical mask, a plastic apron and gloves on Jan 5 2022.
The 60-year-old, from Woodley, Reading, told the victim he was from the Royal Berkshire orthopaedic unit and, while claiming to check her mobility, pressed his face against her vagina.
The victim, who was 85 at the time of the assault, had been receiving visits in her home from healthcare professionals after suffering fractures from a fall on Dec 21 2021.
However, she had cancelled all evening care visits by the time of the assault.
When Hicks pressed his face against her, she asked him: “What on earth are you doing?”
She pushed him away and asked for his identity card, which he did not provide, before he left. The woman called relatives to inform them and they reported the incident to police.
In body-worn camera footage of the woman talking to police in her home, she told officers the assailant apologised to her after she pushed him away and told her he “got carried away”.
Forensics confirmed Hicks’s DNA matched samples found on the woman and her leggings.
Hicks will be sentenced at the same court on January 25.