A 40-year-old nurse was arrested on Monday for stealing morphine from the hospital. According to the court documents he held child pornography in his possession and two bags of methamphetamine.
Agents from the District Attorney's office had searched the nurse's apartment in the Upper West Side last week which revealed his possession of substance worth $1000 and a USB stick containing pornographic material. The nurse's locker was cut open for the investigation, said a source to the New York Post.
Scott Girgash was brought before the court on Friday on charges of the possession of stolen property, child pornography and grand larceny. According to the court records he was released under supervision. He did not enter a plea. Assistant District Attorney Lindsey Stearns confirmed that the substance of morphine obtained from the apartment belonged to the hospital.
No varying pattern in access
Following an internal review the nurse was fired, says the hospital spokesperson. But, the hospital confirmed that his record was clean while joining the hospital. Girgash is registered in the Emergency and has easy access to various narcotic drugs. There was no varying pattern in his accessing history. An employee from the hospital told the Post that the incident was nauseating.
Girgash has been a nurse for more than 16 years. The spokeswoman told the Post that "in keeping with Mount Sinai's policy, this individual underwent and passed our extensive background check process prior to employment, including criminal background and professional license checks, a sex offender registry search and a toxicology screening."
The USB stick obtained in the 'seasoned, baccalaureate-prepared' nurse's apartment, by the law enforcement had the video of a boy under the age of 16 being sexually assaulted by a man.
Over the past few years, the hospital has faced various incidents of similar context. There are talks about the growing issues with the emergency department in the hospital. Girgash and his lawyer did not comment on the case.
