Universal Health Services: Psychiatric Institute of Washington Mental Health Aide Arrested for Sexual Abuse of Teen

December 22, 2023

D.C. police have arrested a health aide at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington for allegedly sexually abusing a 17-year-old patient, according to court documents.

Authorities identified the aide as Jerry Mack, 44, of Southeast Washington. Police said he was charged with one count of first-degree sex abuse of a patient stemming from an incident last month. A D.C. Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered Mack released and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Jan. 9. Mack’s attorney, Alvin Thomas Jr., declined to comment on the case, and efforts to reach Mack on Thursday were not successful.

According to the arrest affidavit filed in court, Mack had been assigned to a juvenile floor supervising patients ages of 10 to 17 and helping them with laundry and meals. The affidavit describes encounters involving Mack in the patient’s private shower and in a laundry room.

The Psychiatric Institute is a private facility on Wisconsin Avenue NW. It is contracted by the D.C. government to provide mental health care in a secure setting, though the circumstances of how the alleged victim was admitted could not be learned.

A representative of the institute did not respond to media inquiries Thursday. The police affidavit says a staff member who noticed the patient looking “distressed and disturbed” reported the incident to the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency, which contacted law enforcement.

Source: Peter Hermann, “Psychiatric health aide in D.C. charged with sexual abuse of a patient,” The Washington Post, Dec. 21, 2023, URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/21/sexual-assault-dc-psychiatric/