| For Immediate Release Case # 11NF1378 May 5, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
ANESTHESIOLOGIST CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING TWO UNCONSCIOUS FEMALE PATIENTS
*The OCDA is seeking the public’s help in identifying potential additional victims
SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) Office has filed charges against an anesthesiologist for sexually assaulting two female patients while they were unconscious. Yashwant Balgiri Giri, 58, Cypress, was charged yesterday, May 4, 2011, with one felony count each of sexual battery on an institutionalized victim for Jane Doe #1 and sexual penetration by foreign object of an unconscious victim for Jane Doe #2. The defendant was arrested in Cypress today, May 5, 2011, by the Placentia Police Department (PPD), who investigated this case. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of eight years in state prison. Giri is being held on $100,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned tomorrow, May 6, 2011, in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. The time is to be determined.
Giri is an anesthesiologist at the Placentia-Linda Hospital. Giri has worked at other hospitals in Southern California including Lakewood Regional Medical Center, Anaheim Regional Medical Center, West Anaheim Medical Center, and Western Medical Center, Anaheim.
Between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2009, Giri is accused of administering anesthesia to 16-year-old Jane Doe #2 while she was unconscious from medication. He is accused of digitally penetrating the victim while a scrub nurse was preparing the surgery tools with her back turned. The nurse witnessed the sexual assault and immediately reported the incident to a director at the Placentia-Linda Hospital. The hospital failed to report the incident to police at that time.
On March 18, 2011, Giri is accused of fondling the breasts of 36-year-old Jane Doe #1 while she was unconscious under anesthesia during an outpatient surgery procedure. A hospital employee, who had looked into the operating room window to see how the surgery was progressing, witnessed Giri fondling the victim’s breast continuously while the procedure was taking place. Giri is accused of fondling the victim’s breasts for an extended period of time while a tarp concealed him from the surgeon and nurse who were working near her legs. The hospital employee reported the sexual assault to a hospital director and PPD was contacted. Shortly after PPD began their investigation, Giri resigned. During the investigation into the sexual assault of Jane Doe #1, PPD learned of the unreported sexual assault of Jane Doe #2 a year earlier.
Due to the defendant’s work history, the OCDA is seeking the public’s help identifying potential additional victims. Anyone with additional information or who thinks they have been a victim is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Lou Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794.
Deputy District Attorney Nicole Nicholson of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
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