ASAP EMS Corp. and one of its paramedics, James Lavelle Walley, was recently hit with a sixth lawsuit over allegations that the paramedic sexually assaulted 6 women.
A lawsuit recently filed in Greene County alleges a Mississippi woman suffered a miscarriage mere hours after a paramedic allegedly “raped her in the back of an ambulance.” The recent suit makes the Mississippi woman the sixth who claims she was sexually assaulted by James Lavelle Walley, the paramedic. Walley works at ASAP EMS Corp., a company based in Laurel, Mississippi that provides paramedic services throughout Mississippi and Alabama.
All six of the women have filed suits against the paramedic company and Walley and are “considered vulnerable persons because they were suffering from medical issues requiring emergency services.” Three of the women are residents of Greene County and the other three belong to George County. In each case, the women accuse the defendants of negligence, gross negligence, and other claims. However, one of the cases has been dismissed due to the fact that the three-year statute of limitations expired.
One of the cases resulted in Walley’s arrest last October on charges of sexual battery. Soon after his arrest, Walley was “free on a $20,000 bond.” However, he is still under investigation and more charges are expected to roll in as “evidence in that case and others are presented to grand juries for possible indictments.”
As a result of the incidents, the plaintiffs are all seeking unspecified damages from ASAP EMS Corp. for its failure to “provide a standard of care and for the failure to properly train or supervise its ambulance drivers.” Additional damages are being sought for the charges of negligence, negligent hiring, and retention because “the ambulance company had known about Walley’s propensity for sexual violence for a number of years, but chose to turn their heads, resulting in the injuries,” according to court documents. On top of that, the plaintiffs are seeking damages for emotional distress stemming from their mental trauma and physical ordeals. Because of that, many of the women want compensation to cover their “medical costs, attorney fees, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and disability issues.”
The first five suits were filed by attorney Joe Beard, while attorney Joshua W. Danos filed the most recent suit “on behalf of the woman who miscarried after her alleged assault.”
So far, the attorneys representing ASAP EMS Corp. has not replied for requests for comment. However, representatives for the company have requested a “change of venue for the civil trials, saying they would be unable to get a fair trial in Greene County courts because of pre-trial publicity.”
Sources:
6 women accuse Gulf Coast paramedic of sexual assault
6 women say they were sexually assaulted by a Coast paramedic. One lost her baby.
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