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Media Coverage
Civil suit filed against local psychiatrist accused of sexually abusing inmates
By Nathan Crabbe
Staff writer
Published: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 7:40 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 7:40 p.m.
A Gainesville psychiatrist is being sued over allegations that he sexually abused female inmates while treating them in the Hernando County jail.
The lawsuit against Dr. James A. Yelton Rossello and the Corrections Corporation of America, which ran the jail at the time of the alleged incidents, was filed Wednesday in Hernando County.
The two women who filed the suit, former inmates not named in the complaint, accuse Yelton of molesting them while they were jailed in 2009 and 2010.
“They want to make sure this does not happen to anybody else,” said Samuel Rogatinsky, a Fort Lauderdale attorney representing the women.
A state Department of Health investigation released in March found Yelton asked inmates to expose themselves, touched them and suggested that he would trade drugs for sex.
The state surgeon general placed emergency restrictions on Yelton’s medical license that ban him from treating female patients and require that he be supervised when treating men.
Gainesville attorney Jesse Smith, representing Yelton in the proceedings against his license but not the civil lawsuit, said that Yelton denies all allegations of misconduct. Smith said that he’s trying to negotiate a settlement with the Department of Health to allow Yelton to practice again.
“We hope to guarantee his ability to continue to practice,” he said.
Yelton, 54, is a private practitioner in Gainesville who has contracted through government agencies to work with inmates.
Civil action filed in Hernando against psychiatrist, CCA
By TONY HOLT | Hernando Today
Published: May 25, 2011
Updated: 05/25/2011 06:02 pm
The room was like a closet. It was small, dark and had no windows.
It was the perfect setting for Dr. James Yelton Rossello to manipulate or coerce his victims to submit to his sexual advances, said the attorney who is suing him on behalf of two former patients.
The same attorney said Yelton used the cramped office space as a “sex den.”
Samuel Rogatinsky, a South Florida attorney, is representing two women who were former inmates at the Hernando County Jail while Yelton was a member of its medical staff.
They accused Yelton of sexually assaulting and harassing them repeatedly during one-on-one medical visits.
They are suing him and Corrections Corporation of America, the company that used to employ Yelton and manage the jail.
Rogatinsky said whenever Yelton lured a patient into his room, he always locked the door, he said.
He also said the correctional officers brought the inmates to the psychiatrist and led them out while refusing to do anything to stop the abuse.
“It’s like that all around the country,” said Rogatinsky.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” he continued. “How could a (jail) operate like that?”
Yelton would wait only a “short period of time” before asking sexually charged questions of his patients, including what they liked about sex and what their preferences were, said Rogatinsky.
Jail inmates say doctor sexually molested them
Posted: 05/25/2011
- By: Associated Press
BROOKSVILLE, Fla. – Two former Hernando County Jail inmates are suing a Gainesville psychiatrist and the private company that once ran the facility, saying the doctor sexually molested them.
Lawyers for the women filed the lawsuit Wednesday. It alleges that Dr. James A. Yelton Rossello touched the women sexually and implied that he would trade drugs for sex.
In March, the Florida Surgeon General restricted Rossello from providing medical, mental health or psychiatric treatment to any female patients.
The lawsuit also names the Corrections Corporation of America, which for 22 years was contracted to run the jail until the county took back control of it in August.
An attorney who represented Rossello in the Department of Health Case said his client denies the conduct. No criminal charges have been filed.
Ex-Hernando County jail psychiatrist sued, faces new accusation
By John Woodrow Cox, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Thursday, May 26, 2011
BROOKSVILLE — Two women who allegedly were molested by a psychiatrist while they were inmates at the Hernando County jail have filed a lawsuit against the doctor and his former employer, and one of the women has lodged a new accusation against him.
In March, the Florida surgeon general restricted Dr. James A. Yelton Rossello’s license after four female inmates alleged that between November 2009 and August 2010 the doctor asked that they expose themselves, give him lap dances or kisses and implied he would trade medication for sex. Corrections Corporation of America, which operated the Hernando jail and employed Yelton, fired him.
In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday, one of the women says Yelton digitally penetrated her after he asked that she pull down her pants during a therapy session. Prosecutor Brian Trehy has previously said that due to a complex Florida statute, the state couldn’t charge Yelton, 54, with sexual misconduct because none of the inmates claimed he had penetrated them.
After learning of the new allegation, Trehy said, “It’s worthy of exploration. I’m willing to consider what she has to say.”
However, he said, because she didn’t say anything when the alleged attack first occurred, it might make a criminal charge difficult to prosecute.
Yelton’s Gainesville attorney, Jesse Smith, said his client still denies the claims. Smith said he is negotiating a settlement with the Florida Department of Health that could allow Yelton to be freely practicing again by late summer. He declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The suit seeks damages in excess of $15,000 from Yelton and CCA, which for 22 years was contracted to run the jail until the county took control of it in August. The complaint says Yelton battered one woman and sexually battered the other, and it accuses Corrections Corporation of negligent hiring, training and supervision.
“The main goal is obviously to stop him from going after inmates anymore,” said the women’s attorney, Samuel Rogatinsky of Fort Lauderdale. “This man can’t treat women.”