Multnomah County's district attorney has charged a man with sexually abusing an employee at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in North Portland.
Jared Walter, 33, faces two counts of sexual abuse in the third degree and two counts of harassment, according to a statement by the district attorney's office.
The attack happened on Wednesday, the release said. According to a probable cause affidavit, the unnamed female employee told police that she was walking in the hospital in the afternoon when the man, who was later identified as Walter, started following her. He trailed her for about 15 minutes, she told police, and reached past her skirt and towards her buttocks. She told police she found a substance on her clothes and in her hair that appeared to be a bodily fluid.
Walter "intentionally, and without consent, propelled a dangerous substance" at her "and did so with the purpose of arousing himself or to gratify his sexual desire," the release said.
Oregon law considers blood, urine, semen and feces to be dangerous substances.
Portland police, who were called to the scene about 4 p.m., arrested Walter at his home in the 500 block of Northwest Fifth Avenue in Portland. He admitted that he had been at Legacy, the release said.
Legacy Health declined to comment, saying it does not weigh in on criminal matters over concerns that it could interfere with the investigation.
Walter was arraigned on Thursday. He was represented by a court-appointed lawyer and pleaded not guilty to the four allegations.
The case is being prosecuted by a unit in the district attorney's office that focuses on neighborhood problems spanning everything from misdemeanors to homicides.
You can reach Lynne Terry at [email protected] or on Twitter @LynnePDX.
