Former mental health counselor charged with sexually assaulting 5 patients dating back to 1996
By Jeramie Bizzle, Charlie De Mar
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CHICAGO (WBBM) — A former mental health counselor is charged with the alleged sexual assault of five young patients at a West Side hospital that spanned nearly a decade.
Cook County prosecutors charged Edmund Rivers, 68, with five felony counts of criminal sexual assault, including three counts of criminal sexual assault with a victim between 13 and 17, and two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault for the alleged abuse.
Prosecutors said the repeated attacks happened between 1996 and 2004 at Hartgrove Behavioral Health Hospital in the Austin neighborhood, where he first began working in 1993. The hospital is known to provide psychiatric care.
According to prosecutors, the alleged abuse happened in multiple locations throughout the facility, including patient rooms, a “seclusion” room, a cafeteria bathroom, and a gym equipment room. The victims were boys between the ages of 7 and 14 years old and didn’t know each other, prosecutors said.
It was further alleged that Rivers would threaten to sedate the victims with a hypodermic syringe for failing to comply with his advances.
“Edmund Rivers felt so comfortable that he can act with impunity at Hartgrove, that he actually dared victims to come forward,” said attorney Martin Gould.
Gould filed a civil lawsuit about one year ago on behalf of roughly 100 former Hartgrove patients who say they were sexually abused as kids while in the hospital’s care.
“He had access to the vulnerabilities and traumas they had from the past, and he exploited that, took advantage of that, and preyed upon them,” he said.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said the five victims came forward and contacted police after learning about a civil lawsuit that was filed against the hospital for its pattern of abuse by its staff.
A man who said he was sexually assaulted at Hartgrove previously shared his story of survival, saying the abuse was almost an every-other-day occurrence while he was there.
“They would force us to do things to each other,” he said.
Gould alleges other staff members were complicit in the abuse and expects additional charges to be filed.
“There was a number of other individuals around him who also were abusing, who turned a blind eye, who otherwise covered it up,” he said.
Following a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Monday, a judge ordered that Rivers remain held until his next court date.
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