TULSA, Okla. — Investigators with the Tulsa Police Department's Special Victims Unit are looking for possible victims after a registered nurse was arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a patient.
Officers responded to a local hospital last September after a 45-year-old patient said she was sexually assaulted in her room. At the time, the victim underwent a SANE exam, and DNA evidence was collected.
James Beaver, an RN, was interviewed by detectives at the time. A search warrant for his DNA was obtained, and he was arrested nearly one year later on July 16.
Oklahoma Senate Bill 967 and Senate Bill 975 were both passed in 2019 and require all collected sexual assault kits to be tested within 20 days. However, according to TPD, the passage of this law created a backlog because there is a lack of support to process the kits. This resulted in the delay of Beaver's arrest.
Beaver has been charged with first-degree rape by instrumentation.
Investigators say Beaver worked at several facilities, and they didn't share a list of locations to "ensure no service or location was inadvertently excluded."
If you believe you were a victim or you know someone who might have been, send an email to specialvictimsunit@cityoftulsa.org.
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