WEBSTER, TEXAS – A former cafeteria worker at UTMB Health’s Clear Lake Campus has been charged after a patient accused him of sexually assaulting her in her hospital bed in late October.
According to court documents, 27-year-old Cristian Daniel Cruz Herrera was charged on Nov. 15. Records show he has not been taken into custody.
The sexual assault survivor, who KPRC 2 is not identifying, said she had been in the hospital for two days to be treated for low potassium before Herrera violated her. She said the experience was made worse by the way hospital staff treated her.
“My pleas for help were ignored and I was treated like a criminal myself, like I had done something wrong,” the woman told only KPRC 2.
Herrera delivered her lunch around 12 p.m. on Oct. 26, according to court documents, and the woman said he was wearing dark scrubs when he came into her room.
She asked him for help using the restroom, according to court documents, but the assault quickly followed.
Herrera allegedly digitally penetrated her and then performed oral sex, the charging document states.
“His head was where it shouldn’t be,” the woman said. “He looked up and he said, ‘Does that feel good?’ And I said, ‘No, that does not feel good. That feels very creepy. And I want you out of my room now’.”
Court documents indicate Herrera begged her not to tell anyone but she called for help from a nurse after he left her room.
“She laughed at me and she said, ‘You were sexually assaulted in your room?’ And I said, ‘Yes, ma’am’,” the woman said.
She claims the nurses made sarcastic, condescending, and hateful comments.
After hanging up the intercom, she called 911. She said a nurse first spoke to the responding UT Police officer.
“Tried to tell her that I was talking out of my head and I wasn’t making any sense,” the woman said.
UTMB Health released the following statement:
“UTMB can confirm that the sexual assault incident involving a Sodexo employee occurred. The contract employee was immediately terminated upon learning of his confession. UTMB’s priority is the safety and well-being of its patients. We were deeply disturbed and disappointed to learn of the patient assault. We are reviewing our sexual assault reporting process and retraining staff where appropriate.”
Herrera was not charged until nearly three weeks after the alleged incident. Court records indicate he confessed to investigators, but he has not been arrested.
“The safety and security of University of Texas Medical Branch patients and staff is our top priority, and we take that responsibility seriously ... We are fully cooperating with both law enforcement and UTMB Health and will continue to as the investigation moves forward,” a spokesperson for Herrera’s former employer, food service company Sodexo, wrote.
The company told KPRC 2 he was terminated, but it’s not clear how soon that happened after the allegations were made.
“You don’t ever expect something like that in life in general, but in a hospital you definitely don’t expect something like that,” the woman said.
She’s worried there are other victims.
“He was just comfortable about the whole thing until I confronted him,” she said.
She’s now scared to be in a hospital room with men and wants UTMB Health to take sexual assault survivors seriously.
“I’ll always have to have treatment because I’m a cancer patient. And it’s always going to be different for me now,” she said.