Sexual assault charges filed against former nurse at Menorah Medical Center

A former nurse charged last year with sexually assaulting patients at a Kansas City, Kan., hospital now faces allegations involving patients at a Johnson County hospital.

Police arrested Dennis E. Clark on Monday on a warrant charging him with two counts of aggravated sexual battery, aggravated criminal sodomy and attempted aggravated criminal sodomy.

The new charges involve three women who were patients at Menorah Medical Center in 2010 and 2011, according to the complaint filed by Johnson County prosecutors.

Clark, 47, also is charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious behavior for allegedly exposing himself to women in his Gardner neighborhood.

Late last year, Clark was charged in Wyandotte County with sex crimes involving four female patients at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., where he had begun working in December 2013.

He was free on bond in the Wyandotte County case before his arrest Monday.

His bond in Johnson County is set at $500,000.

The Kansas State Board of Nursing said last year that it had received complaints about Clark when he worked at Menorah, but the incidents could not be substantiated and no disciplinary action was taken. Overland Park police also investigated the complaints, but no charges were filed.

Officials at Menorah said Clark’s employment was “terminated” in February 2012 but they could not comment on the reason.

Clark was hired at Providence in December 2013 after passing background checks that included searches of criminal history and sex offender registry records, as well as board of nursing records, that would show “alerts” if disciplinary action had been taken or was pending, according to the hospital.

Kansas City, Kan., police began investigating Clark in May 2014 after a Providence patient reported being sexually assaulted. Two other women reported similar incidents. In October, prosecutors charged Clark in Wyandotte County District Court with three counts of aggravated sexual battery.

After a fourth victim came forward, Wyandotte County prosecutors amended the charges to include two counts of rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery.

The board of nursing revoked Clark’s registered nursing license after the charges were filed in Wyandotte County.

A preliminary hearing on the Wyandotte County charges is scheduled for June 30, but it may be postponed unless Clark posts bond in the Johnson County case.

Clark made his first appearance on the Johnson County charges Monday afternoon. He told the judge he would hire his own attorney, and his next court appearance was set for June 25.

This story was originally published June 15, 2015 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Sexual assault charges filed against former nurse at Menorah Medical Center."