Former Pennsylvania medical assistant sentenced after sexually assaulting over a dozen women
A 34-year-old former medical assistant at a Pennsylvania urgent care was sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty to posing as a nurse and sexually assaulting more than a dozen women in Montgomery County.
Ramon Garcia, 34, was escorted into the courtroom by three officers with his hands cuffed behind his back. The former medical assistant also pleaded guilty to an additional felony of aggravated indecent assault for a March 9, 2024, incident in which he told a patient he could give her a physical at a lower cost and then sexually assaulted her.
A judge in Montgomery County sentenced Garcia to 5-10 years in prison with three years of probation as part of a plea deal between the district attorney's office and the former medical assistant's lawyers. Before his sentencing, the court deemed Garcia to be a sexually violent predator, meaning he would be a registered sex offender for life.
Garcia previously worked as a medical assistant for Carbon Health Urgent Care in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. Prosecutors said he performed medical exams and tests on patients even though he wasn't authorized to do so.
Several victims and their families were overcome with emotion inside the courtroom on Monday as they read statements addressing Garcia directly. After the sentencing, a judge told the victims that because of their courage, a sexually violent predator was now off the street. The former medical assistant was then given a chance to address the victims, directly but declined.
"They were glad to close this chapter. They were excited to tell us about the strength that they've found through this process. They found support in the process of working with us and in working with the criminal justice system. They felt validated in having their voices heard," Lauren Marvel, the assistant chief of trials with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, said.
So far, 13 women have come forward against Garcia, but prosecutors said they believe there could be more.
"What our message is to other victims is that if you're ready to come forward, we're ready and here to listen," Marvel said.
Civil lawsuit filed against Ramon Garcia, Carbon Health
Also on Monday, two law firms – Hoffman, Sternberg, Karpf & Lynch, LLC., and Stampone, O'Brien, Dilsheimer, Holloway – filed a joint civil lawsuit against Carbon Health Medical Group and Garcia, claiming negligence. The law firms are representing the victim involved in the aforementioned March 9, 2024, incident.
The filing alleges that Carbon Health failed to properly supervise and train workers and staff its facilities, creating an environment where a sexual predator was able to fraudulently pose as a nurse and repeatedly prey on female patients.
Two other defendants are listed in the filing as John Does and described as the individuals and corporations "who directly or indirectly performed a pre-employment background investigation of, hired, trained, employed, supervised, failed to discipline, failed to terminate and/or condoned the actions of Defendant Garcia."
CBS News Philadelphia obtained the lawsuit Monday morning, which details the actions Garcia was accused of committing when the victim visited Carbon Health Urgent Care on March 9, 2024, for a pre-employment physical exam.
According to the lawsuit, the victim, who was not identified, met Garcia while signing in on an electronic tablet at the front desk. Garcia then told the victim he would cancel her appointment out of the system to help save her money and do the physical examination as a "re-check." He then brought the victim to a room, took her height and weight, and told her to lie down on the exam table.
While wearing scrubs and gloves, Garcia also wore a medical badge that listed him as a medical assistant, but the lawsuit alleges he told the victim he was a nurse. He then put a stethoscope under the victim's hoodie but over her undershirt to listen to her lungs. Garcia is accused of then sexually assaulting the victim by placing his hands on her chest. The lawsuit alleges that Garcia then said he had one more assessment where he, again, sexually assaulted the victim by shoving his hands down her pants and inside of her for 1-2 minutes.
After this, he asked the victim if she had her employment physical form, which she said yes to while she was in a state of shock, fear and anxiousness, according to the lawsuit. Garcia took the form and left the room but returned quickly, saying he couldn't find a doctor, so he'd just sign off on it.
The former medical assistant signed the victim's physical assessment form with a name and title, "M.D." and stamped the paper with a Carbon Health stamp, according to the lawsuit.
Later that day, the victim received an iMessage from Garcia that said "Hey it's me Ramon the guy from urgent care," from the email address rg362388@gmail.com.
According to the lawsuit, a dozen women came forward to police about Garcia, who was charged with more than 20 felonies and misdemeanors, including aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and impersonating a holder of a professional license.
According to the lawsuit, the charges against Garcia include similar sexual assaults that happened as early as November 2023. The lawsuit alleges these types of sexual assaults continued over the next four months and at least 17 women were sexually assaulted by Garcia before the plaintiff was on March 9, 2024.
Carbon Health told CBS News Philadelphia they do not comment on pending litigation.
