An employee of a Yorktown nursing facility accused of raping an incapacitated resident was caught in the act by a fellow staff member, who ignored the suspect’s repeated pleading not to turn him in, court documents reveal.
Javier Barragan, a housekeeper at Yorktown Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, was arrested on Saturday, Feb. 21, after town police were notified.
A nursing assistant entered the room at approximately 7 am that morning and was surprised to see the curtain drawn around the victim’s bed because she had not left it that way, according to her supporting deposition filed in court. The nursing assistant then heard what appeared to be a moaning sound and the bed frame shaking and, when she pulled the curtain back, observed Barragan with his pants down, on top of the woman having sex with her.
When the nursing assistant yelled for Barragan to get off the woman, according to the deposition, Barragan got off the bed, buttoned his pants and dropped to his knees, pleading for her not to report him and beseeching “please I’ll do anything you want.”
The nursing assistant told him to leave while she made sure the woman and her bed were in a safe position and then left to find a supervisor. According to the deposition, Barragan followed her, still pleading not to be reported.
Two other employees told police that before they learned what happened they saw Barragan pleading with the nursing assistant, according to their depositions.
One said they heard her tell Barragan ‘No Javier, I can’t forgive you.’ The other said Barragan said ‘Good morning’ to them when they passed in the hallway at about 6:48 am. Shortly after 7 they saw Barragan following the nursing assistant around pleading with her and looking like he was going to cry. They heard the nursing assistant tell Barragan to go away.
Supervisors ordered Barragan to leave the facility and called police. A news release from Yorktown police said they were called to the facility at 7:08 a.m. and that Barragan later turned himself in at police headquarters.
Barragan is being held on $100,000 bail at the Westchester County jail on charges of second-degree rape and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, both felonies. He is due back in Yorktown Justice Court on March 10.
Barragan faces up to seven years in prison on the rape charge, which accuses him of having sex with someone incapable of consent due to a mental disability.
Yorktown police initially reported that the endangering charge was second-degree, a misdemeanor, but the felony charge was filed with the court.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Yorktown housekeeper charged with resident rape pleaded not to be reported
Reporting by Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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