A registered nurse with a reputation for coming onto her patients engaged in "unsolicited" sex with a 60-year-old Illinois man awaiting a heart transplant, claims a lawsuit filed against the nurse and obtained by The Smoking Gun.
John Cantone, 60, claims that Rachel Shaper initiated unsought sexual relations with him as he laid heavily medicated in the intensive care unit at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County Court lawsuit filed Monday by Cantone and his wife.
The couple has accused Shaper, 33, of battery and said the hospital failed to supervise the allegedly lustful nurse.
Cantone claims he was in his hospital bed waiting for a new heart the night of Oct. 12, 2012 when Shaper entered his room and "initiated unsolicited sexual relations, including intercourse," the lawsuit reads. At the time Cantone was "medicated with various drugs and was under electronic monitoring."
According to the complaint, Shaper, who no longer works at the hospital, was known to "initiate unauthorized physical contact with patients," sometimes succeeding in her advances.
The hospital eventually terminated Shaper's employment for "crossing professional boundaries with a patient," according to state Department of Professional and Financial Regulation records. However, the records do not specify if Cantone is the patient.
Shaper was reprimanded by state officials in January for failing to report she had been fired. Her license remains valid until May 2016, according to The Smoking Gun.
Cantone is seeking $200,000 in damages. The lawsuit was filed close to a month before the two-year statute of limitations on filing battery and negligence suits expired.
