A Utah nurse has been accused of raping and threatening to kill a female surgery patient.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Joshua Platte Shumway, 26, was arrested Monday after an unidentified woman came to police and told them of her alleged ordeal that happened in April.
The details are disturbing.
The 37-year-old woman was staying the night at Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt, where Shumway worked, to recover after a surgery.
Shumway entered her room during the night and allegedly sexually assaulted the woman five times in the course of the evening. He was not her assigned nurse.
According to a probable cause statement, the nurse first gave her medication before placing her hand on an automatic morphine injector to activate it. The woman told investigators she had stopped using the injector because it was making her nauseous.
After pumping her with morphine, Shumway allegedly lifted up the woman’s hospital gown and began fondling her multiple times in the night. The victim said he then forced her to touch him inappropriately and made her engage in sex acts, Desert News reported.
“[She] stated that she was trying to say, ‘No, please,'” charging documents state. Despite her pleas, Shumway allegedly continued.
On his fourth visit into her room, Shumway allegedly showed her a syringe and said he could put her into cardiac arrest with it. Detectives said he also threatened her should she tell anyone, saying that he knew where she lived and “could find her if needed.”
On his final visit, Shumway is accused of strangling the victim.
“Each time she would whimper or cry, [he] would tighten his grip on her neck,” investigators wrote.
After the incident, the victim said she sought counseling and was persuaded by her therapist to come forward to police with the allegations.
Shumway had passed a background check before being hired on as a nurse, according to Fox 13.
The accused was booked into Duchesne County jail with a bail set at $500,000.
He now faces a long list of felony charges, including object rape and forcible sodomy, three counts of forcible sexual abuse, and three counts of witness tampering. Shumway has also been charged with making threats of violence, a misdemeanor.
