Nursing assistant charged in rape of stroke victim

A former nursing assistant, who police believe fled to Africa after he was charged with raping an incapacitated patient, had been acquitted in another rape case earlier this year and had been fired from a previous nursing job at Swedish Medical Center for inappropriate behavior with female patients.

Kindred Hospital, where the rape of the incapacitated woman took place, said they never would have hired Lamin Darboe in 2005 had officials there been aware of his termination from Swedish, Cheryl Payseno, CEO of the long-term-care center in Seattle's Northgate neighborhood, said Thursday. Darboe is accused of fondling and raping a 31-year-old stroke victim who is paralyzed and can't speak, according to charging papers filed in King County Superior Court.

While Swedish Medical Center maintains that it filed a complaint against Darboe with the state Department of Health about three weeks after firing him in 2002, the Department of Health said it never received the complaint.

Terry West, deputy executive director for the state Department of Health, said there are five people named Lamin Darboe licensed with the state as certified nursing assistants. During an investigation into the allegations, West said she has learned that Lamin Darboe is a very common name in the suspect's native Gambia.

West said Department of Health employees are looking into what happened to the Swedish complaint when it was sent to them four years ago.

A spokesman for Swedish Medical Center said another copy of the letter detailing why Darboe was fired from the hospital was turned over to the Department of Health on Thursday.

Darboe, 39, was charged with second-degree rape and indecent liberties on Aug. 6. He is believed to have fled to Gambia earlier this month, according to police.

On Wednesday, the Department of Health suspended his license.

In February, Darboe was acquitted of kidnapping and second-degree rape. Darboe, who lived in Shoreline at the time, was accused of kidnapping and forcing sex on a woman, said Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Craig Matheson.

In 2002, while working at Swedish, Darboe reportedly made sexual comments to a woman and penetrated her slightly with a finger while giving her a bath, according to King County court papers filed in connection with the recent rape at Kindred Hospital. Also while he was working at Swedish, Darboe gave his e-mail address and cellphone number to another female patient after she told him she wasn't interested in him, court papers say.

Darboe was hired to work at Swedish on June 14, 1999, and was fired July 8, 2002, according to the hospital. On Aug. 1, 2002, hospital staff members sent a letter about his misconduct to the Department of Health, said Ed Boyle, a spokesman for the Seattle hospital.

The most recent rape allegation involves a woman who was paralyzed after suffering a stroke in May. She was admitted to Kindred Hospital on June 12, according to charging papers.

Though the woman can communicate only by nodding her head to indicate "yes" or "no," a friend notified the hospital about the alleged rape after she asked the victim if she was OK with Darboe giving her a bath, court papers say. The woman began to cry when questioned about the alleged abuse.

When authorities talked to the woman on July 24, she used an alphabet board to indicate that Darboe touched and raped her. He put a towel over her face during one of the rapes, according to charging documents. She said Darboe told her not to report what had happened.

The woman was transferred to another care facility on July 21.

Payseno said that when Kindred officials learned of the alleged abuse, they immediately sent Darboe home, placed him on administrative leave, contacted police and reported the allegation to the Department of Health.

Seattle Times staff reporter Brian Alexander contributed to this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com