Woman Files Suit Against Nurse Paul Miller, Providence Mission Hospital For Alleged Sexual Assault
MISSION VIEJO (CBSLA) — The alleged victim of an Orange County nurse spoke out Thursday about being sexual assault while announcing she was filing suit against the man and the hospital where it happened.
"This has been one of the worst experiences of my life," Zoe Cooksey said.
The 22-year-old Orange County woman said she was telling her story in hopes that it would help her heal and support other victims of sexual assault.
"On March 31, I was sexually assaulted by nurse Paul Miller at Mission Hospital," she said.
According to Cooksey and her attorney, Shawn Steel, Cooksey was at the hospital after a car accident when Miller allegedly took advantage of her vulnerability and his position as a nurse.
"Under the control of registered nurse Paul Miller, she was taken to a small dark room with a door, was given morphine and a catheter," Steel said. "She was immobilized before she was sexually assaulted."
Steel said hospital documents show Cooksey was given three shots of morphine, which left her in a semi-conscious state. He said Cooksey was able to text her mother who arrived within 10 minutes.
The women alerted the Orange County Sheriff's Department within 24 hours and the hospital was notified the next day.
Since then, two other women have come forward alleging Miller also sexually assaulted them — a 68-year-old woman in April and a 56-year-old woman in June.
"We suspect that personnel like nurses and doctors may have known about his propensity to cause bodily damage against female patients," Steel said.
The hospital released a statement that read in part:
"As soon as hospital leadership received the first patient complaint, the hospital took prompt action and immediately placed the caregiver on administrative leave pending a full investigation."
Miller was arrested June 30 and bailed out later that day. He is facing a number of criminal charges in connection with the alleged assaults and now a civil suit filed on Cooksey's behalf. That lawsuit also names Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo as a defendant.
"If Paul Miller assaulted you, I invite you to be brave and stand with me and together we will hold him accountable for what he did and what this hospital allowed him to do to each of us," Cooksey said.
Miller was previously employed at El Centro Regional Medical Center from January 2016 to January 2017, and Sharp Hospital — Chula Vista from December 2014 to May 2015.
Investigators said they believe there may be additional victims and have asked anyone with additional information to call OCSD at 714-647-7419, or submit an anonymous tip to OC Crime Stoppers at 855-847-6227 or online at OCCrimeStoppers.org.
