PROVIDENCE — A doctor has been reprimanded by state regulators for allegedly inappropriately touching several inmates he examined at the Adult Correctional Institutions last year.
Dr. Morris Paul Elevado was providing medical services to inmates in the ACI’s Maximum Security facility in Cranston in April 2022 when five inmates reported him for misconduct.
Five inmates allege that on April 25, 2022, that when Elevado finished their examinations he “fist bumped” them and then “slapped each of them on their buttocks on the way out of the examination room,” according to documents from the Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline obtained by the Globe.
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Each of the alleged incidents was recorded on camera, located in the medical examination room. A complaint filed by Department of Corrections Inspector Charles Devine in June 2022 was handed to the medical licensing board, along with a complete copy of video recordings.
At least one inmate also reported an inappropriate comment Elevado allegedly made during the medical examination about a digital rectal exam.
In a written rebuttal submitted to the medical licensing board in July 2022, Elevado admitted to “fist bumping” and “slapping” several inmates on the buttocks when they walked out of the examination room. He also acknowledged making a comment to one of the patients about a digital rectal exam, but he claimed “it was not intended to be offensive,” but “was intended to make the patient laugh.”
Elevado was also interviewed by an investigative committee in September 2022. He was formally reprimanded for unprofessional conduct and was ordered to undergo ethics and boundary training at his own expense.
A consent order signed last month said administrative fees for the training will cost Elevado $1,137.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.