The family of a 15-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by former EMT David Carpio has filed a lawsuit against Balboa Ambulance, claiming they could have prevented the incident.
The incident occurred in February 2017 when the teen girl was being transported in an ambulance.
The lawsuit accuses Balboa Ambulance of negligence and failing to conduct a proper background check.
New information suggests that Carpio’s previous employer, Care Medical Transportation, ignored warning signs of his behavior and alleged crimes. During Carpio’s two-week employment at Care Medical Transportation in 2015, his co-workers filed four complaints against him for sexual harassment and assault.
The suit claims that he made inappropriate comments to female patients and was eventually terminated for it.
“While he was working there, it’s alleged there were complaints that he had sexually harassed not only female co-workers but had sexually harassed female patients,” said attorney Jessica Pride, who represents the 15-year-old victim’s family. “We didn’t discover Care’s negligent conduct until later in this litigation and so as soon as that was discovered, we decided to add [Care Medical Transportation.]”
“Had [Carpio] been reported, then what would have happened is that Health and Human Services, EMS would have started an investigation and during that investigation they could have determined that he was not fit to serve as an EMT and would have revoked his license,” Pride added. “Had Mr. Carpio not had an EMT license in 2016, he wouldn’t have been able to sexually assault my client.”
The 15-year-old girl’s mother said that the entire situation has made her angry and sick.
“If those corporations had taken action than she wouldn’t be where she is today and wouldn’t have experienced what she had to experience at the age of 15. And what’s really sad about the whole thing is that it took a 15-year-old to bring this guy to the surface,” she said. “You can’t un-ring the bell, my daughter has to live with this the rest of her life and our family lives with this for the rest of our lives, it happened and it’s just not OK.”
Carpio was charged with nine felony counts of raping and molesting two additional teenage girls and pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement.