A former patient care technician convicted of sexually assaulting patients at two local hospitals was sentenced to 15 years in prison, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

A jury on Thursday convicted Ernesto Pedraza, 53, of sexually assaulting adult male patients in 2015 and 2016 at Ben Taub Hospital and Kingwood Medical Center. He was sentenced Friday.

Court documents show two men admitted to the hospitals for overdoses complained to police that Pedraza had committed sexual acts against them while they were drifting in and out of consciousness.

“We trust hospital staff to treat us in emergencies, not take advantage of our vulnerability,” said Assistant District Attorney Kaitlin Kaufmann. “Pedraza broke that trust over and over, and a jury of his peers decided he was guilty.”

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Pedraza’s victim told investigators he reported the incident to nurses but, initially, no one believed him.

Bryan McLeod, a Ben Taub spokesman, said in an emailed statement that the Harris Health System had been supportive of the legal process and fully cooperated with the investigation into Pedraza and his prosecution.

“We care deeply about the safety and well-being of our patients,” McLeod said, noting that Pedraza was terminated December 18, 2015.

Pedraza’s attorney, Skip Cornelius, was not immediately available for comment.

This is the second time in recent years that a Ben Taub health care worker has been convicted of sexually assaulting a patient. In August 2018, a Houston jury convicted Dr. Shafeeq Sheikh of raping a woman hospitalized at Ben Taub in 2013 after suffering an acute asthma attack.

Defense attorneys admitted Sheikh had sex with a patient but said it was consensual. The woman reported the rape to Ben Taub staff, saying an unknown physician came to her bedside three times in the dark and sexually assaulted her while she was tethered to machines. The call button she repeatedly pressed to summon a nurse was unplugged.

A spokeswoman from Kingwood Medical Center did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

According to a news release from the DA’s Office, both institutions investigated the assault allegations and terminated Pedraza.

Pedraza, who could have faced a sentence of up to 20 years after being convicted, asked a judge to sentence him.

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st.john.smith@chron.com