Cobb County police believe that a Marietta, Georgia nurse anesthetist may have inappropriately touched hundreds of patients while they were sedated. The allegations arose after a patient found video surveillance equipment in the women’s bathroom of a Cobb dentist office.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story.
Police say a patient spotted the recording device and immediately called 911. Authorities were then able to link the device to Paul Patrick Serdula. Upon searching Serdula’s home, police found hundreds of videotapes and additional recording devices. The tapes reveal Serdula committing serious crimes including sexual battery on patients under anesthesia. Police do not yet know the full extent of Serdula’s exploits, but they believe that there could be hundreds of victims.
Serdula, 47, is a contracted nurse anesthetist that may have worked for numerous medical clinics and facilities. Cobb police are asking anyone who may have been recently put under anesthesia to contact their doctor’s office to see if Serdula administered the anesthesia. If so, those patients are urged to call the Cobb County police.
Serdula is currently in jail without bond charged with unlawful surveillance and eavesdropping; however, new charges are likely as police continue to explore the tapes found at his home. Under Georgia law, a conviction for unlawful surveillance can carry a sentence of one to five years and a 10,000 fine.
These criminal charges may also lead to civil suits against the nurse and the medical facilities where he was employed. A good victims’ rights attorney will help a victim track down and pursue the attacker and all responsible parties in effort to hold them responsible. In some cases, a sex crime victim can recover significant damages. Liability on the part of the medical facilities will largely depend on their knowledge of the nurse’s criminal activity.
Pate & Brody is an accomplished Georgia law firm with offices in Atlanta, Macon, Madison and Savannah. Our lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for crime victims, people who have been defrauded by deceptive business practices, or injured through the fault of others. Our lawyers have been recognized on the list of Georgia’s “Super Lawyers”, and included among Georgia’s “Legal Elite” by Georgia Trend Magazine.
