From the why files: Worker takes naked picture of mental patient
July 17th, 2009 by Cheris Hodges in News
The only thing worse than being in a mental hospital is being taken advantage while in that facility.
According to The Charlotte Observer, that’s just what a worker did to a patient at the hospital in Butner.
Frederick Damont Bellamy, 36, of Durham is charged with secret peeping, a felony.
Bellamy was working at Central Regional Hospital in November when he photographed a male patient “for the purpose of gratifying sexual desire,” according to an arrest warrant that a State Bureau of Investigation agent filed Wednesday.
Bellamy is the worst kind of predator because he took advantage of a man who could not fight back. A man who needed help and Bellamy was supposed to be one of the people helping the victim.
This isn’t the first time that this has happened.
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services said two health care technicians were placed on paid leave last month after another employee took the cell phone with the nude photo in its memory to administrators.
Where is the outrage? As tax payers, we’re responsible for funding state hospitals and this isn’t behavior we should endorse. If workers are taking naked pictures of patients, they should be fired immediately. The people in these hospitals aren’t there for someone to take advantage of; they are there to get help.
Why aren’t these incidents reported more? Why aren’t these victimizers fired rather than placed on paid or unpaid leave? And why don’t we get outraged about it?
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