Lawsuit: Father Blames Dallas' Timberlawn Hospital for Sex Assault of 13-year-old Daughter

Timberlawn psychiatric hospital staff’s negligence and “inhumane character” allowed a 13-year-old girl to be raped there in 2017, according to a lawsuit filed this month in a Dallas County district court.The father brought the suit against the now-defunct Dallas hospital, saying his daughter has suffered mental anguish because of the assault and still needs medical treatment.An attorney representing Timberlawn’s parent company, Universal Health Services, declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.The girl, who was being treated at Timberlawn for depression, said that a 17-year-old male patient sneaked into her room one evening and raped her.After The Dallas Morning News reported that Dallas police were investigating, federal hospital inspectors launched an investigation. They found the hospital had placed the boy and girl in rooms near each other and had falsified paperwork to make it look as if the two were in a public area at the time of the assault. They also found the floor was understaffed that night.State regulators moved to revoke Timberlawn’s license, saying it was too dangerous for patients. But before that could happen, UHS shut down the 100-year-old hospital in early 2018, citing dwindling patient numbers.Dallas police referred the sexual assault case to a grand jury, but no charges have been filed.UHS operates five other psychiatric hospitals in the Dallas area: Hickory Trail, Millwood, Garland Behavioral, Mayhill and University Behavioral Health of Denton.  Continue reading...