Mass. General medical assistant charged with sexually attacking woman awaiting a doctor in an exam room

A medical assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital took advantage of a doctor leaving a dermatology exam room to get a woman to strip after which he groped her under the guise of examining her foot and leg, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office charges.

Leonardo Hernandez, 29, of Jamaica Plain, was arraigned on one count of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 in Boston Municipal Court yesterday, the DA's office reports. He was released on personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from the hospital, the DA's office reports, adding he is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on July 24.

According to the DA's office, a woman contacted police on April 12 about an incident several weeks earlier when she went to the hospital dermatology department for some ongoing medical care. A doctor talked to her in an exam room, then left:

There was a knock on the door accompanied by a man’s voice. A man then entered the examination room. The victim recognized the man from previous appointments.

The man, later identified as Hernandez, asked the victim if she would like to have a skin examination due to a possible condition on her foot. The victim said if the exam was necessary then she would like to have it. She hadn’t been informed of an additional exam but assumed the doctor had requested it.

Hernandez provided the victim with a hospital gown and left the room closing the door behind him. Hernandez then quickly re-entered the room before the victim had the opportunity to remove her clothes. Hernandez remained in the room as the victim removed her jeans and began examining her.

The victim said Hernandez went down to the floor and started touching her right leg, running the tips of his fingers up her leg. Hernandez then raised her undergarment exposing her buttocks and repeated this on the left side. Hernandez advised the victim he was conducting a normal exam and that he would need to check her abdomen with both hands. Hernandez then requested to see the victim’s breast. The victim declined. Hernandez requested approximately four times to see the victim’s breast before attempting to pull down the victim’s hospital gown. Upon the victim’s repeated refusals Hernandez left the examination room.

The following day, the victim contacted her doctor to ask if she had ordered any follow-up exams. The doctor told the victim that she hadn’t, and that this type of exam is not within Hernandez’s job description.

In January, 2023, a medical assistant at the MGH Back Bay Health Center on Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay was arrested on similar charges. In June of last year, he was indicted in Suffolk Superior Court on four counts of indecent assault and battery. He is currently scheduled for trial on Nov. 12, court records show.

Innocent, etc.