Mecklenburg County Public Health has suspended an employee in connection with a sexual assault investigation, county spokeswoman Suzette Nedrich confirmed Wednesday.
Daniel Pitti-Casazola, 41, has been arrested and “faces charges to be determined” in the case of a woman saying she “received an illegitimate medical examination” at her home on July 11 from someone “posing as a medical professional,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a statement Tuesday.
The CMPD statement identified Pitti-Casazola as a Spanish-language interpreter with the Mecklenburg County Health Department “at the time of the incident.”
Pitti-Casazola was arrested at a county building Tuesday afternoon and “has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation,” Nedrich said in a statement Wednesday.
The county health department, human resources department and county prosecutors are “fully cooperating” with the CMPD investigation, according to Nedrich.
Nedrich’s statement did not specify whether Pitti-Casazola is suspended with or without pay, and she told a Charlotte Observer reporter that the information should be obtained through a public records request.
The county also did not respond to questions from an Observer reporter about Pitti-Casazola’s access to patient records in his capacity as an interpreter to the health department and under what pretext he gained access to the woman’s home.
The alleged assault happened July 11 at an apartment in the 3400 block of Teal Point Drive, according to a CMPD incident report. A 32-year-old woman told police that day that an “unknown suspect tricked her into her home and touched her in an intimate area,” according to the report.
The CMPD report does not name the woman who alleged the assault. He says she wasn’t hurt.
The CMPD investigation “is active and ongoing,” the ministry statement said.
Anyone with information about the case or “who thinks they may also be a victim” should call police at 704-336-8279, the CMPD said. Anonymous information may also be shared with police through Crime Stoppers by calling 704-334-1600 or visiting charlottecrimestoppers.com.