A court document The Dispatch obtained Wednesday shows a Starkville man was arrested last week for an alleged illegal sexual act with a minor that occurred in an OCH Regional Medical Center restroom in December.
James D. Sudduth, 33, was charged with one count of sexual battery Friday after he allegedly engaged in oral sex with a 12-year-old on Dec. 22, a complaint filed with Starkville Municipal Court states.
OCH Chief Executive Officer Richard Hilton said two adults — one of whom is the child’s parent — walked into the hospital with the child on the day of the incident. At some point, Hilton said the child and one of the adults, presumably Sudduth, entered a public restroom together.
Hilton said no one notified hospital staff or security of the incident at the time it occurred.
Hilton, who was briefed on the situation by hospital counsel, said he is unaware of any similar incidents ever occurring at OCH in its history.
“You would think that if an adult parent had any inkling of concern about their child being in the presence of someone, they would have said something,” he said. “We didn’t do anything wrong, and we were not put on notice of a potential problem. There was no reason to have any concern about a minor with another adult, who walked in with the parent. On any day, that probably occurs often.
“The child didn’t say anything to our knowledge while in the hospital — nothing was brought up,” Hilton added. “If we were made aware at that point, our whole security system would have been activated, and we obviously would have separated those involved.”
OCH security officers patrol the hospital around the clock, Hilton said. At least two security personnel are used during busier daytime hours, and at least one is present throughout the night.
“From my standpoint, the hospital strives to provide the best service we can,” he said. “If any individual has concerns about safety while in the hospital, it’s certainly within their realm of speaking up and making sure that they or anyone else — minors included — are being watched.”
While the victim’s condition at the time of the incident is unclear, the affidavit cites a part of the criminal code that applies to sexual battery against “a physically helpless person” — a charge that carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison upon conviction — rather than the portion that applies to a victim younger than 14 –which carries a sentence of 20 years to life.
Besides a Starkville Police Department press release announcing the arrest and a copy of the affidavit, no other information about the incident was released.
Oktibbeha County Circuit Court records show Sudduth was previously indicted on two identity theft charges — both of which were retired to the file — and an uttering forgery charge. In 2008, he was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to uttering forgery. That probation was revoked, however, in 2012, and Sudduth was sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with five years of post-release supervision.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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