Mesa caregiver charged with sexually assaulting patient in 2012
Feb 19, 2020, 12:15 PM | Updated: 12:59 pm
Manuel Corral (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Photo)
(Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Photo)
PHOENIX – The caregiver arrested for allegedly raping an elderly woman in a Mesa adult care center has been charged in a 2012 sexual assault case involving a patient with a brain injury at a different facility.
Manuel Corral, 58, was charged Wednesday with one count of sexual assault. The victim in the 2012 case was a 32-year-old stroke patient, authorities said.
Corral was arrested Sunday for allegedly sexually assaulting an 85-year-old dementia patient last week. He was booked on six counts of sexual assault and one count each of kidnapping and sexual abuse.
After being read his rights Sunday, Corral admitted to his involvement in the 2012 case, police said. Corral had been a suspect in 2012, but he denied the allegations at the time and the case remained open.
“Now that we have all of this information, we’re certainly trying to comb through and see if there are any other incidents that might surface because of this,” Mesa Police Detective Nik Rasheta told KTAR News 92.3 FM.
Police said the 2012 case occurred at Heritage Life Center, 1040 S. Lebaron St. in Mesa. The business currently at that address is called Heritage Lane Behavioral Assisted Living.
The new allegations were made at Heritage Village Assisted Living, 8035 E. Brown Road.
A spokesperson for Heritage Village said the similarly named facilities are not the same company.
Heritage Village released a statement saying it was cooperating with law enforcement and all governing agencies.
The statement said staff immediately reported the allegations to police, and Corral was terminated.
Corral passed required background checks when he was hired and held a valid fingerprint card from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the statement said.
He was a night caregiver at each facility at the times of the alleged assaults, according to police, who said he started working at Heritage Village in June 2019.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Ashley Flood contributed to this report.
