A Mobile Circuit Court jury found AltaPointe Health System, Inc., liable in the sexual assault of a mentally disabled patient at BayPointe Children’s Psychiatric Hospital, awarding the patient $7 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

The verdict, announced Wednesday, awarded the victim $3 million in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages. The jury deliberated for 2 1/2 hours before ruling that AltaPointe Health System, Inc., which operates BayPointe, did not meet the standard of care and further failed to protect the victim when it neglected to report the sexual assault for nearly 24 hours, according to court documents.

“The jury saw the appalling evidence that was presented and through its verdict found that AltaPointe’s conduct was repulsive,” said attorney Bryan Comer of the Mobile lawfirm of Tobias & Comer, which represented the victim.

“AltaPointe breached the standard of care that was required under Alabama law in its callous treatment of our client after he was found being assaulted in his room. This verdict sends a strong message to the community as to the abhorrent way in which AltaPointe treated or vulnerable client and failed to protect their patient.”

The victim is a young man who suffers from multiple disorders which have rendered him incapacitated, including intermittent explosive disorder, ADHD and autism and functions at the level of an 11-year-old.

On Nov. 21, 2019, a BayPointe nurse entered the victim’s room and found another in-patient on top of him, with neither wearing pants. The victim was placed in a “timeout room” for 18 hours before being taken to the University of South Alabama Children’s and Women’s Hospital, where a rape kit confirmed he had been sexually assaulted.

Court documents note that on Nov. 18, 2019 — three days before the assault — a BayPointe registered nurse ordered that the victim was to receive “Q-15 minute observation,” meaning BayPointe personnel were to observe the victim every 15 minutes each day he was at BayPointe and to record those observations.

The Q-15 order was violated just hours after being entered, the court found, with staff going as long as three hours and 15 minutes between observations of the victim. The following day, the victim received an evaluation which resulted in a BayPointe psychiatrist mandating the Q-15 order be followed.

Again, staff failed to meet that requirement, going as long as six hours and 15 minutes between observations, according to court records. Two days later, the sexual assault occurred during a one hour and 15 minute gap between staff observations.

“The people of Alabama, and across the country, need to have assurance that their children are safe when seeking much-needed mental health care,” said attorney Lacey Smith, who also represented the victim. “What happened to our client should never happen to another child in AltaPointe’s care or anyone else’s.

“The punitive damages in this case were necessary to punish AltaPointe and say this is completely unacceptable in our community or anywhere.”