"Why me?:" Alleged victims of Grand Junction nurse accused of sexual assault speak out
The investigation into a Grand Junction nurse accused of sexually assaulting unconscious patients is now the basis for a class action lawsuit against the health care system. The complaint alleges there could be thousands of victims based on the evidence collected so far but only two have been identified.
Both women who asked not to be identified are part of that suit and are raising questions about what happened.
"How did this happen?" one of the women said. "Why... Why was it me?" the other asked.
And those are just the start of their concerns.
"Something wasn't right, I told my mother he wasn't a good man," one of the women said.
Both women ended up in the care of 61-year-old Christopher Lambros in western Colorado.
He was arrested in November after a co-worker caught him taking a selfie with one of those women fully exposed, while she was unconscious.
"I have a lot of fear, my emotions are everywhere I will be in bed, and I'll just start bawling my eyes out, I just start thinking about stuff, like what he could have done," she said.
While the criminal investigation into Lambros is far from over, a class action lawsuit alleges negligence on the side of the hospital.
"There were numerous corporate failures that permitted Lambros to abuse patients and invade their privacy," attorney Omeed Azmoudeh said.
"The ultimate goal of the complaint is to hold defendants SCL Health, St Mary's and Intermountain Health accountable for putting this monster in our patients' rooms," Azmoudeh said.
The complaint points to evidence already collected by police including four terabytes of data related to Lambros's alleged assaults.
That amounts to 700,000 cellphone photos or nearly 65,000 hours of cellphone video.
"We may never know the full scope of what this guy did to patients at St. Mary's Hospital we just may never know," he said.
One of the videos described in the complaint, Lambros is allegedly heard saying, "Don't ever get rid of these videos." He also says, "You need to keep them forever . . . This is your Dexter collection."
That's a reference to the TV series about a serial killer who collects mementos from his victims.
For the two victims now identified he took far more from them.
What happened, they say, has changed both of their lives forever, leaving them scared to even walk into a hospital.
"I have depression. I have anxiety. I'm on meds for both and in therapy," one of the women said about how she's changed.
They now have each other for support and want anyone else who may have encountered this nurse to know they're not alone.
"I have another voice and we need to get more voices out there so there will be a whole bunch of us to stand up and do this," one of the women said.
SCL issued the following statement in response to the lawsuit:
Chris Lambros, a former nurse at St. Mary's Medical Center, was terminated from employment at St. Mary's Medical Center immediately following his arrest by the Grand Junction Police Department under suspicion of sexual assault while delivering care at our hospital. The safety of our patients is our highest priority, and we take this matter very seriously. We have zero tolerance for anyone who engages in the abuse or mistreatment of our patients. Immediately following the reported concern, the hospital placed Chris Lambros on administrative leave, removed his access to the hospital and patients, and reported the matter to local law enforcement. While the investigation is ongoing, at this time, the district attorney has charged the former nurse with abusing two patients. "What this former nurse is accused of is reprehensible and goes against everything we believe and value at St. Mary's Medical Center. Patients put their trust in us and should feel safe in our care. We are working closely with law enforcement to protect our patients from those who intend to cause harm. We are doing everything possible to ensure our patients continue to feel safe and respected while receiving care at St. Mary's Medical Center," said Bryan Johnson, President of St. Mary's Medical Center. St. Mary's continues to fully cooperate with the Grand Junction Police Department in its ongoing investigation. We cannot offer further details about this matter out of respect for patient privacy. While the Grand Junction Police Department and hospital are contacting known victims directly, we understand that our former patients may have questions or concerns, and we want to offer them support. We have set up a call center to directly connect people with a patient representative so they can get information about their individual care. That phone number is (970) 298-2273. Questions about the criminal investigation should be directed to the Grand Junction Police Department or the 21st Judicial District Attorney's Office.
