COLORADO SPRINGS — A woman is speaking out after she said a medical technician groped her in an exam room at the UCHealth Urgent Care on Janitell Road in the southeast part of Colorado Springs.
Colorado Springs Police said they arrested 34-year-old Yash Raval for felony unlawful sexual contact on October 18. The woman does not want to share her identity but wants to share her story in hopes of inspiring other victims to report abuse.
She said on Sept. 12 last year she went to the urgent care for a rash on her legs and stomach. She said Raval brought her back to an exam room and took her vitals.
"It starts as a normal visit, you know, they do your vitals, take your blood pressure, put all the notes in the computer. Once all of that was done, it turned into 'Well, let me go ahead and get a look at this rash,'" she said.
She said Raval began to examine the rash on her legs. She said she partly lifted her shirt to show him it had spread to her stomach. She said Raval proceeded to lift her shirt even more to expose her bra and began examining her breasts even though she says there was no rash in that area.
"He proceeded to reach inside of my bra and it felt like I was getting, like, a breast exam. So to the point where he was literally groping me," she said. "I knew that something was wrong. It just took me a minute to process what was happening, because in my experience, anytime I've ever gone to a doctor's office, it's always been a doctor who performed a physical exam, never a med tech," she said.
Arrest documents reveal a CSPD detective had conversations later with the clinic staff who said a medical technician's role is to collect patient vitals, medical history, and a reason for the visit, not to conduct a medical examination.
The woman said she reported the incident to police two days after it happened.
"I just want this guy to be held accountable. I don't want anybody else to ever have to go through that," she said.
According to data from the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), out of every 1,000 sexual assaults only 310 are reported to police. Fifty of those reports lead to an arrest and 28 lead to a felony conviction. The data shows only 25 perpetrators will be sent to jail or prison.
The woman wants other victims of unlawful sexual contact and sexual assault to know they are not alone and to feel empowered to report any abuse. She said she wanted to speak up and set an example for her 9-year-old daughter.
"I decided that it was only the right thing to do to make sure that he couldn't do this to somebody else," she said. "At the end of the day, I think it takes someone to be strong enough to stand up for everybody else and if that's what I can do to help... that is my main objective."
Colorado Springs Police are still looking for any additional victims or anyone with information on the suspect. You are asked to call Colorado Springs Police at 719-444-7000 or if you want to remain anonymous you can call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (719) 634-STOP (7867) or 1-800-222-8477.
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