Maya Kowalski, whose family was recently awarded more than $260 million in damages after a children’s hospital reported her mother for abuse, is now suing that same hospital for sexual assault.
Maya, now 17, was 10 when she was admitted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. The hospital suspected Maya’s mother, Beata, was suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy and reported her for child abuse, which led to months of Maya being separated from her family.
The Kowalskis won their civil trial against the hospital, but now Maya has filed a second lawsuit alleging she was sexually assaulted during her stay at the hospital in 2016, NewsNation reported.
“I know that it was wrong, and that’s enough,” Maya told the network’s Chris Cuomo on Friday.
The allegations first came up during the first civil trial, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported, noting that Maya claimed she was in a situation with a man in a white lab coat that may be sexual abuse. Maya said she reported the incident to a hospital psychologist.
“She reported it but nothing was done. Nothing was done to make sure that I was safe and secure in that place,” Kowalski said. “I just decided that well, since it wasn’t taken seriously there, It’s not going to be taken seriously anywhere else.”
Maya and her attorney, Greg Anderson, have filed a criminal complaint with police and a lawsuit regarding the incident.
“I am claiming that there was sexual abuse. It’s something that I was quite quiet about for a couple of years because I was worried it wasn’t going to be taken seriously,” Maya told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum last Thursday.
Ethen Shapiro, an attorney from Hill Ward Henderson who represented the hospital in the first civil trial, told Fox News in a statement that Maya’s “allegations originally arose during trial and were not admitted into the case.”
“As soon as the hospital became aware of the allegations, and in accordance with their policies, they immediately initiated an internal investigation and contacted law enforcement last month,” Shapiro told the outlet. “Federal privacy laws restrict Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital from sharing more, but the hospital takes allegations of this nature very seriously and always puts the safety of their patients above all else.”
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The civil trial related to the actions of Johns Hopkins in 2016 when staff reported Maya’s parents to children’s services. They believed Maya’s mother, Beata, was suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy and exaggerated her daughter’s illness to get attention from healthcare workers. Beata committed suicide and, shortly after, Maya was released from the hospital and allowed to return home to her family. The family sued on seven claims, and Johns Hopkins was found liable for falsely imprisoning Maya, fraudulently billing her family, and causing them emotional distress. The jury further found that social worker Catherine Bedy had battered Maya and that Dr. Sally Smith medically neglected the girl, who was 10 when she was admitted to Johns Hopkins, Fox News reported.
The hospital has vowed to appeal the verdict.
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