By Laura French
SAN DIEGO — The family of a 15 year old who was sexually assaulted by a former San Diego EMT in an ambulance is suing two companies they say could have prevented the attack.
Former EMT David Carpio pleaded guilty to the sexual assaults of two underage victims in a plea agreement after a total of three girls came forward with allegations, according to NBC San Diego. He was given a 10-year stipulated sentence and ordered to register as a sex offender.
At the time of Carpio’s August conviction, a civil suit was pending against Carpio and his former employer Balboa Ambulance. The family of the then-15-year-old victim claimed the company was negligent and failed to perform a proper background check before hiring Carpio.
Now, the family is also suing Care Medical Transportation, which employed Carpio for less than two weeks in 2015, NBC San Diego reported this week. The lawsuit claims Care Medical failed to report inappropriate behavior including workplace sexual harassment and assault and inappropriate comments about female patients, for which he was fired.
According to the suit, co-workers filed four complaints against Carpio while he was employed at Care Medical.
“Had (Carpio) been reported (by Care Medical Transportation) , then what would have happened is that Health and Human Services, EMS would have started an investigation and during that investigation they would have determined that he was not fit to serve as an EMT and would have revoked his license,” said Attorney Jessica Pride, who is representing the victim and her family. “Had Mr. Carpio not had an EMT license in 2016, he wouldn’t have been able to sexually assault my client.”
The sexual assault in the ambulance occurred in 2017, when Carpio was employed by Balboa Ambulance. The victim’s mother said she was being taken to the hospital and was restrained when she was kissed and groped by Carpio.
After the assault was reported and the EMT was arrested, two other girls came forward to report they had been attacked by Carpio when he was off duty.
Carpio is currently appealing his sentence, which requires him to serve at least eight years in prison.
The civil case against Carpio and Balboa ambulance continues after being on hold during the sexual assault trial, with Care Medical Transportation now being added as a defendant.
“If those corporations had taken action then she wouldn’t be where she is today and wouldn’t have experienced what she had to experience at the age of 15. And what’s really sad about the whole thing is that it took a 15-year-old to bring this guy to the surface,” said the victim’s mother, whose name was not reported to protect the identity of the victim. “You can’t un-ring the bell, my daughter has to live with this the rest of her life.”