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December 20, 2013
A former River Oaks Hospital employee who was convicted last month of raping a heroin addict seeking help at the Elmwood facility has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
John H. Williams Jr., 38, of Jefferson, also must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, Judge Scott Schlegel of the 24th Judicial District Court ordered Monday in handing down the sentence. The victim said she was in a medication-induced stupor when she realized Williams, a 300-pound technician, was raping her.
Williams was convicted of simple rape and could have faced up to 25 years in prison. The same jury acquitted him of raping another River Oaks patient who also had accused him of rape.
More than 50 of Williams’ friends and supporters wrote letters to Schlegel, asking him to show mercy and lenience in the sentencing. Most of the supporters were congregants of Little Zion Baptist Church in New Orleans, where they say Williams was a minister. All the letter-writers spoke highly of his character, and they asked that he be allowed to return to his community.
The woman, now 45, said she checked into the facility in October 2009. Williams initially entered her room and attempted to bathe her as she lay on the shower floor under hot water while detoxing, she said. She said Williams was not supposed to be in her room and she said she told him to leave.
She said that later that night, while she was in bed and under the influence of sleeping medication, he returned to her room and raped her.
Williams initially denied the rape, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. He then admitted he lied, and that he did enter the woman’s room and saw her showering. He said he returned to her room later and had consensual sex with her. Williams admitted he was aware the woman was medicated. He called it “just a bad decision.”
His attorney Dennis Moore told the jury that while it was unethical behavior, it wasn’t illegal. Assistant District Attorney Seth Shute called Williams “a predator.”
On Monday, Moore sought a new trial, calling the woman’s credibility into question. Schlegel denied the request.
The woman sued Williams and River Oaks in 2010, in the 24th Judicial District Court. The case, through which she seeks unspecified damages, is pending.
