North Little Rock, Ark.-based BridgeWay mental health hospital was ordered to pay $2.5 million to a former patient who was allegedly raped by one of its workers when she was 14, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported March 3. The hospital admitted wrongdoing as part of the proceedings.
Attorneys for the alleged victim, now 19, asked for $25.2 million, with $2.2 million intended to compensate her for pain and suffering, mental anguish and the costs of her care. The teen had come to BridgeWay at a "pivotal moment" in a life marked by drug addiction encouraged by her mother, alcohol abuse enabled by her father and repeated sexual abuse by her stepfather and stepbrother, the report said.
An investigation by local police did not result in charges against the man, 45-year-old Anthony Bernard Monk. Lawyers on both sides called Monk a rapist during the proceedings, the report said. BridgeWay' administrators, including then-CEO Jason Miller, knew Mr. Monk was on Arkansas' Child Maltreatment Central Registry over accusations he'd molested a child at another hospital.
He is accused of raping the girl while she was alone in her room over the Independence Day weekend while her roommate was on leave, the report said. Her guardian filed the suit against Monk and BridgeWay in June 2018.