Former Cherry employee pleads guilty to assault
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on August 28, 2009 1:46 PM
A former Cherry Hospital worker accused of sexually abusing a male patient pleaded guilty this week to a felony sexual offense.
Perry J. Butler will serve a 60-day active sentence for the offense, according to court records.
Butler was originally charged on Dec. 1, 2008 with having sex with a male patient, and jailed under a $12,000 bond.
He was one of several employees under a temporary suspension for three days in August 2008 after the death of a patient left unattended at the hospital for nearly 24 hours.
The investigation led to the suspension of federal funding for the hospital, which has since been restored.
According to court records, Butler had previously been convicted of shoplifting, larceny, trespassing and writing bad checks.