SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A nursing assistant has been charged with sexually abusing a 75-year-old bed-bound patient.
CoxHealth said Friday it had fired Calieb Craft. The announcement came one day after the 24-year-old was arrested and charged with sodomy, sexual abuse and elder abuse.
According to court documents, a 75-year-old patient at Cox South Hospital, who cannot move without assistance, told police last week that he was assaulted in his room.
Court documents say the patient was examined after the incident and found to have injuries consistent with being sexually assaulted.
When Craft was interviewed by Springfield police, he denied the allegations, according to court documents. No attorney is listed for him in online court records. Steve Edwards, president and CEO of CoxHealth, said the hospital is fully cooperating with the police investigation.