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Hospital Employee Donald Benson Jr. Arrested After Allegedly Sexually Abusing Minor

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) — A former hospital employee is charged with sex offenses, including the sexual abuse of a minor, while he was working at the hospital in Baltimore County.

Donald Benson Jr. was arrested Thursday in Baltimore County after police got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that he had sexually abused a minor.

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Credit: Balt. Co. Police

After detectives received the tip that Benson had possibly been viewing child pornography, they began to investigate him. They then reportedly found explicit images of a girl being sexually assaulted.

They later determined the girl was a patient at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center when she was assaulted. Police said she was unconscious and unaware of what was happening at the time.

"That in itself is extremely concerning to us that this man took advantage of his position and took advantage of the vulnerability of a patient," Baltimore County Police spokesperson Ofc. Jen Peach said.

Benson was an employee of the hospital when the assault allegedly happened in September 2016, police said,

MedStar Health Central Maryland released a statement on the arrest, saying in part that they are "appalled," and as soon as they heard they terminated Benson Jr.:

"The safety and care of our patients is paramount. We were appalled to learn that one of our associates is alleged to have abused a patient in our care. As soon as we heard, we terminated the associate's employment and have offered our full cooperation to law enforcement."

Detectives are asking anyone who may have additional information on this case or any other incidents that Benson may have been involved in to contact detectives by calling the Baltimore County Police Crimes Against Children Unit at 410-853-3650.

"While we don't have any evidence right now that he had additional victims in the hospital, ... we are concerned with finding anybody else who may have been a victim of his inside the hospital or outside the hospital," Peach said.

Despite the incident happening in 2016, police said he was fired last month once the details were brought forward.

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