A 45-year-old felon charged with sexually assaulting an 80-year-old woman as she lay in her hospital bed at the Jersey City Medical Center was ordered detained through the course of his prosecution today.
JERSEY CITY — A 45-year-old felon charged with sexually assaulting an 80-year-old woman as she lay in her hospital bed at the Jersey City Medical Center was ordered detained through the course of his prosecution today.
“You cannot get any more dangerous than someone like Mr. (Jackie) Burgess who preyed on this most vulnerable woman,” Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Karen Kazanchy said of Burgess who was apparently wandering the hospital halls on June 7.
The 80-year-old told officials she woke to find a man touching her crotch and because she had a catheter, she thought it was a member of hospital staff. After he pushed on her leg which was sore from surgery, she realized he wasn’t in hospital attire. She buzzed for a nurse, the complaint says, adding that the man walked out.
Police believe Burgess had earlier entered another patient’s room and went into her private bathroom without permission. Burgess was arrested by hospital security and remanded to the Hudson County jail in Kearny. Police say evidence for the arrest includes hospital security video.
Kazansky said Burgess has a prior conviction for setting a house on fire using “high-powered” fireworks in 1991. She said he also has a conviction for drug possession within 1,000 feet of school property in 2005.
Finally, the prosecutor said his most recent arrested resulted in a disorderly persons conviction for slashing his uncle’s face with a beer bottle in 2016.
Arguing that Burgess should be locked up pending trial, Kazanchy said he has no impulse control and “preys on the weak, the elderly and pretty much anyone who gets in his way.”
The prosecutor also noted that after Burgess was arrested, he masturbated in a holding cell. She said he is “unable to control his sexual impulses.”
DePascale also noted that “recitation of the facts by the state indicates pretty clearly even when in custody, an inability to control his behavior.”
At the end of the hearing, DePascale ruled that there is no condition or combination of conditions that can be imposed to insure that if Burgess is released, he will not be a threat to the public and will show up for his court hearing. He ordered Burgess detained.
Following Burgess’ arrest, he was charged with aggravated sexual assault for his alleged acts in the hospital and a lewd act for his behavior in the holding cell.
There was also some discussion on whether Burgess would be placed in protective custody at the Hudson County jail but DePascale said jail officials would have to make that decision.