WHITE PLAINS - A Mount Vernon woman is suing a White Plains Hospital X-ray technician who was convicted of molesting her while she was being diagnosed and treated for a back injury.

The lawsuit, filed Jan. 5 in state Supreme Court, says the woman "has been caused to suffer and sustain severe and potentially permanent personal injuries," and "possible permanent injury to her emotional and psychological well being" as a result of the abuse.

X-ray technician Manoj Kunjachan, White Plains Hospital and its parent organization, Montefiore Health System Inc., are named as defendants in the 21-page lawsuit.

White Plains Hospital spokeswoman Dawn French said in an email that they had not been served with the suit. She also said the hospital does not comment on pending litigation. 

The hospital said Kunjachan, of Yonkers, no longer works there. 

In the court papers, the victim's lawyers, Dennis Light and Kevin O'Dell, say the woman was taken to the hospital on July 16, 2015, by her mother with a severe back injury. She was given Ibuprofen and Valium, and sent to the radiology department for X-rays and a CT scan or MRI.

Afterward, as a result of being sedated, the woman stumbled and was helped to a seat by Kunjachan, the lawsuit says.

At that point, "fully aware of (the victim's) impaired and incapacitated condition," Kunjachan "without consent, permission and for no legitimate medical purpose," proceeded to rub her breasts, eventually untying her hospital gown to expose them.

When the woman pushed him away, the lawsuit says, Kunjachan knelt in front of her and put his mouth on her breast. Afterward, the victim, whose age was not available, fell asleep.

When she woke up, she told her mother about the incident, the lawsuit says. Police were called and after an investigation, Kunjachan was arrested on Nov. 25, 2015.

On September 30, 2016, Kunjachan was found guilty of misdemeanor third-degree sexual abuse by a Westchester County jury. He was sentenced to one year's probation on Jan. 12, 2017.

The lawsuit says White Plains Hospital and Montefiore Health System Inc. failed to insure that the victim was "professionally treated and cared for in a safe, skillful, decent, respectful and courteous manner" while she was sedated and vulnerable.

Kunjachan and the hospital have 30 days to reply to the lawsuit.

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