The case involving a former residential house manager at Samaritan Daytop Village on Cape Road in Ellenville, who plead guilty to a reduced charge of “criminal sexual act” in July 2019 after being charged with two counts of rape of a “victim unable to consent” and three counts of “criminal sexual act” has moved to a civil lawsuit against Samaritan Village.

Last month the Shawangunk Journal reported that attorney Regina Fitzpatrick, of O’Connor & Partners PLLC, Kingston, was in discovery phase and planned to take the case to court. That has now taken place.

The background to this case is eye opening in regards to the hiring practices at Samaritan. The former employee, named as Marcus Coles, had a considerable criminal record, including the revocation in 2008 of a suspended five-year Virginia state prison sentence, and thereafter he served one year and nine months on a 1999 conviction for malicious wounding. In their discovery research, O’Connor & Partners found that Coles was arrested on a burglary charge in Ellenville in 2014. That charge was reduced to criminal trespass. In 2015, he was arrested on a felony drug charge, also in Ellenville, but was allowed to plead out on a misdemeanor.

An earlier unrelated case had featured sexual assault. Fitzpatrick commented, “After [the previous sex assault case], they know they have a sexual assault problem, they know they have a hiring problem, but fast forward two years and here’s Marcus Coles and it’s the same issues. How do you not know this person’s criminal history when you can Google it?”

Fitzpatrick called on state regulators, who have subpoena power, to open a broader investigation into the Ellenville facility. Fitzpatrick added that she believes the rehab’s lax hiring practices and employees’ position of authority over vulnerable residents created a “perfect storm” of conditions for abuse that she likened to pedophiles who seek out jobs that give them access to children.

The other side of the problem is that the victims are almost uniquely vulnerable. In the Coles’ case he threatened to report the woman assaulted, for vaping inside the facility, which could easily have led to her being rejected from the program. “They know they can victimize people at this facility and they’re not going to say anything because completion of the program is vital to them not going to jail, them not losing their children,” said Fitzpatrick. “How is this not being addressed?”

Fitzpatrick also observed that, as house manager, Coles was the senior employee at the facility on overnight shifts when the abuse occurred and she wondered why, two years after the previous case ended in a conviction, Samaritan was still hiring people with criminal histories.

Samaritan Daytop headquarters did not respond in time for this article. Back in 2019, when Coles was arrested, Samaritan Daytop Village Vice President of Communications and External Affairs Sheila Greene gave the following statement to the Shawangunk Journal, “Samaritan Daytop Village maintains the highest standards of conduct for our residents, clients and employees. All allegations of violations of our standards are taken seriously. After rigorous internal reviews, any employee found in violation of our standards of conduct are disciplined, up to and including termination. This alleged incident at our Cape Road facility does not reflect the good and critical work performed every day by our dedicated staff caring for New Yorkers facing adversity.”

Fitzpatrick has filed the case in State Supreme Court on behalf of the female victim, now plaintiff. Fitzpatrick commented that Coles had been hired to look after addicts and protect them as they went through the difficult process of weaning themselves off addictive drugs. Instead, Coles sexually assaulted the woman.