A schizophrenic patient who allegedly evaded hospital staff is accused of raping a paralyzed woman in her hospital bed — a “brutal and brazen” assault, prosecutors said.

Boston man Barry Howze, 55, allegedly sexually assaulted the fellow patient at the Boston Medical Center emergency room after midnight on Sept. 14.

The alleged victim was admitted to the ER for post-surgical complications and pneumonia. She had developed partial paralysis on the left side of her body. Once in the ER, she was administered pain medication and placed in a hospital bay alone.

Meanwhile, Howze was admitted to the hospital on a Section 12 psychiatric hold. Hospital staff was supposed to be with him at all times.

However, he was able to escape the psychiatric hold and freely roamed the hospital’s halls, prosecutors said.

Howze can be seen on video walking into the woman’s hospital bay, which was secured by curtains. Howze and the alleged victim did not know each other.

The woman initially thought that he might be a hospital employee, but saw that he was wearing a patient medical bracelet. She asked him, “You good?” and he said yes, and looked out of the curtain into the hallway.

He then allegedly took the call button from her hand and placed it on the ground, out of her reach, and said, “If they find me, they’ll find you,” while making a shushing motion.

Due to her paralysis, she couldn’t reach her phone under her body.

Howze allegedly slid off the chair, onto the floor, and under the woman’s bed. He allegedly grabbed her right thigh.

“She was terrified… she couldn’t defend herself,” Suffolk prosecutor Kate Fraiman said during Monday’s arraignment. “She was in an extremely vulnerable state.”

The woman started trying to remove monitors from her body, in hopes that the machines would start beeping and get the attention of staff.

Once under the bed, Howze allegedly reached his hand out of the left side of the bed, and reached under her hospital briefs. She couldn’t turn away because of her paralysis.

With his fingers, he allegedly sexually assaulted her.

“He took advantage of his opportunity and used it to his advantage in order to carry out the assault,” the prosecutor said.

“This assault was brutal and brazen, and occurred in a place where people go for help,” the prosecutor added.

During the alleged assault, a nurse walked in and noticed that the woman looked scared, and saw Howze under the bed.

The nurse initially thought that Howze could be the patient’s family member. The patient then told the nurse, “I don’t feel safe.”

Howze got up and left the room. Around 20 seconds later, the nurse can be seen leaving the hospital bay and pointing out Howze to a co-worker. Hospital staff chased after him.

Howze remained in the hospital for days. However, he allegedly escaped his supervision again and left the hospital. He returned two days later when he got a visitor’s badge under a false name.

A public safety officer at the hospital recognized him, confronted him, and located his ID in his wallet, revealing his true name. He was taken into custody.

Related Articles

Ex-Massachusetts teacher convicted of raping student

Murphy: Beacon Hill shouldn’t excuse rape, murder

Boston Police Blotter: MBTA looking for man suspected of rape

Bijou Phillips files to change daughter’s name

Irish firefighter convicted of raping woman following 2024 Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Howze is facing two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, one count of assault and battery on a person with a disability and one count of witness intimidation.

The Boston judge declared Howze dangerous and ordered him held without bail on Monday.

“The facts here point to a deeply troubling crime of opportunity against a victim who was not only lying ill on a hospital bed, but was rendered even more defenseless by paralysis on one side of her body,” Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “A dangerousness finding is entirely appropriate given these allegations.”