A hospital worker from Florida was arrested after being accused of ‘sucking’ on an elderly patient’s toes.
Frantz Beldorin, 23, was taken in by police after a female patient at Gulf Coast Hospital in Fort Myers, Florida woke up at around 11pm on Monday, February 24, and felt someone touching her foot.
The woman initially thought she was being touched by a nurse who was checking on her, but Lee County Sheriff records show it happened two more times.
Fox 4 NewsDuring the third incident, the patient told deputies she felt something wet between her toes. When she looked over, she allegedly saw Beldorin bent over her foot, Fox 4 News reports.
The 23-year-old worked at Gulf Coast Hospital as a ‘sitter’ tasked with watching patients throughout the night.
The patient told police she ‘ripped’ her foot away from Beldorin, who then went back to the chair he had been sitting in previously.
The victim reported the incident to a nurse and hospital security called the sheriff’s office, who arrested Beldorin on Tuesday morning and took him to Lee County Jail. The hospital worker is facing charges of battery on a person 65 years or older.
Lee County Sheriff's OfficeWhen Beldorin was questioned by police, he claimed he had actually been reaching to get his phone when the patient noticed him.
He told Fox 4 News:
I’m reaching to get my phone, it dropped so when she got up I guess she got startled and it’s dark.
A day that I thought I was going to make it out of peacefully, a day that I had planned, it didn’t turn out the way that I expected it.
He pointed out there were two other patients in the room, to which all doors were wide open.
Beldorin added:
I can get that from someone else, I don’t have to get that from her.
Fox 4 NewsThe hospital worker denied all the claims and told NBC 2 it was all a misunderstanding which has made him look ‘creepy’.
He said:
When the security came and got me, I was like, ‘what’s going on?’, and they’re like, ‘just come with me’.
It makes me look crazy or creepy and I’m not! Like I’m not that type of dude. If I offended her in any way, I apologise.
The sitter’s mother stuck up for him, arguing her son has worked at the hospital for four years and ‘never [had] a problem’.
Fox 4 NewsBeldorin was released on a $1,500 dollar bond Wednesday evening, but he has since been terminated from the hospital and forced to wear an ankle bracelet.
He is now awaiting trial scheduled for March 30.
Lee Health, the leading provider of healthcare in Southwest Florida, said the safety of its patients is its highest priority, but it was unable to comment further as it is cooperating with law enforcement in this ongoing investigation.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.