New California bills aimed at protecting patients from sexual assault

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Valley lawmaker introduced two new bills aimed at protecting patients from sexual assault this week.

It comes as a healthcare provider faces several lawsuits in Merced County for allegedly violating women.

We do want to warn you that some details in this story may be difficult to read.

In May 2020, Celi Gonzalez says she went to a hospital in Los Banos for treatment operated by Sutter Health.

She says she got an ultrasound and that was the beginning of her worst nightmare.

"As I lay there with my feet in the stirrups, I immediately began feeling uncomfortable," said Gonzalez.

Court documents reveal Gonzalez says the defendant "spent a considerable amount of time rubbing the ultrasound probe on her external genitalia."

"Just clanking on the keyboard, I wasn't even sure if he was taking any pictures and I noticed that it was taking really long," said Gonzalez.

What she says happened next is too graphic to share, but Gonzalez says there was a chaperone in the room, however, she was not looking at what was going on.

Amanda Whitten says that after taking on just one of the cases and filing a lawsuit, she found at least 10 other women with similar claims who did not know each other.

She now represents seven of them, with one client who ultimately passed away following the fear from her experience.

"She paid for what this man did to her with her life, because of the trauma that it caused," said Whitten.

Whitten says the woman never wanted to go back to any healthcare provider and ultimately died from a condition that could have been treated through earlier intervention.

"It breaks my heart that what we did initially, the first lawsuit, didn't prevent what happened to her. It should have, but it didn't," said Whitten.

Now, Valley Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria is working to add another layer of personal protection for patients with two new proposed bills.

"One of the bills is to really hold people accountable, and to make sure that the penalties -- are penalties that will deter individuals from not doing these horrific acts," said Soria.

The other piece of legislation will require standard training of chaperones that accompany ultrasound techs to identify when these types of situations arise.

"My goal is also to give them a voice and make sure that they feel that they are not just being heard by our justice system, but they are being heard by our State," said Soria.

"That the policies reflect that we hear them and that we're going to do everything in our power so that no other women face this type of horrific situation when they visit a local medical facility."

Sutter Health sent Action News a statement, writing:

"Sutter Health is deeply committed to the safety, trust, and dignity of every patient under our care. The individual allegedly involved is no longer employed at Memorial Hospital Los Banos."

The civil cases were resolved last summer, however, four of the seven women Whitten represents have also filed criminal charges.

This week, Whitten says a Merced County judge held the defendant over on four counts of sexual assault by fraud.

He's now set to be arraigned March 12.

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