Betrayal in the Behavioral Health Unit: The Complete Story of the Largo Hospital Employee Accused of Sexually Battering Vulnerable Patients

A place where people go in mental health crisis — involuntarily committed, unable to leave, and entirely dependent on the care of the staff around them — is supposed to be a sanctuary. For two patients at HCA Florida West Largo Hospital in Pinellas County, Florida, that sanctuary was violated in the most serious way possible. Here is the complete story of what happened, who is charged, and the urgent call law enforcement is making to any other potential victims.

The Arrest: Se'Jour Deangelo Fulks Taken Into Custody

On Tuesday, May 12, 2026, the Largo Police Department arrested Se'Jour Deangelo Fulks, 28, of Clearwater, Florida, in connection with multiple alleged sexual batteries against patients at HCA Florida West Largo Hospital on Indian Rocks Road in Largo. Fulks was booked into the Pinellas County Jail and charged with three counts of sexual battery on two vulnerable adults — specifically, the charge of sexual battery involving mentally defective victims under Florida criminal statute.

His bond was set at zero, meaning he was held without bail.

Fulks was employed at HCA Florida West Largo from January 2026 to May 2026 — a period of approximately five months — in the role of patient care technician, working with patients receiving mental health emergency care inside the hospital's locked behavioral health unit.

What Investigators Say Happened

According to arrest affidavits filed by Largo Police Department detectives, the alleged incidents occurred in April 2026, while both victims were involuntarily committed to the hospital's behavioral health unit. Both victims were therefore legally and practically unable to leave the facility — they were in a state of maximum institutional vulnerability, in the care of staff members upon whom they were entirely dependent for their safety and wellbeing.

The first victim told investigators that Fulks allegedly entered his room on multiple nights in April and performed sexual acts on him without his consent while the patient was sleeping or otherwise incapacitated. On one of those nights, Fulks returned to the same room and committed a second sexual battery. The victim said Fulks instructed him "not to tell because he would lose his job." After Fulks left, the victim flagged down another staff member and reported the incident.

The second victim reported that Fulks allegedly performed unwanted sexual acts during and after what began as a massage while the patient was receiving treatment in the same unit. That victim later alerted hospital staff directly.

Detectives said surveillance video from the unit corroborated key elements of both victims' accounts. The footage showed Fulks entering the patients' rooms in the early morning hours on different days in April, and remaining inside the rooms with the doors shut for longer than any clinical purpose would require.

The Prior Criminal Record: A History That Should Have Raised Red Flags

One of the most disturbing dimensions of this case is what a background check on Se'Jour Fulks would have revealed before he ever set foot on the behavioral health unit. Court records show that Fulks has two prior convictions in Pinellas County stemming from a previous job at the Lake House Assisted Living Facility in Largo. The charges in that 2017 case included exploitation of the elderly, fraudulent use of a credit card, fraudulent use of personal identification, and theft of credit cards. Fulks pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 24 months of probation.

The fact that a person with prior convictions related to the exploitation and financial abuse of vulnerable adults at a care facility went on to be employed as a patient care technician in a locked mental health unit — where patients are among the most vulnerable individuals in any institutional setting — raises serious and immediate questions about the hiring and background check processes in place at HCA Florida West Largo. How thoroughly was Fulks' background reviewed before he was given access to involuntarily committed mental health patients? These are questions that law enforcement, regulators, and potentially the hospital's legal counsel will need to answer.

HCA Florida's Response: Suspended and Terminated

HCA Florida West Largo issued a statement confirming that the hospital took action once the allegations were brought to its attention. "Upon learning of the allegations, we notified law enforcement, and the individual was suspended and ultimately terminated," the statement read. "We are committed to maintaining a safe environment for our patients and colleagues and will continue to assist law enforcement with their investigation of the individual."

The hospital did not address questions about the background check process or how Fulks came to be employed at the facility given his prior criminal history in a related care setting.

The Ongoing Investigation: Are There More Victims?

Largo Police Department detectives have been explicit and urgent in their public statements: the investigation is ongoing, and they believe there may be more victims who have not yet come forward. Fulks worked at the facility for five months. He had access to a locked behavioral health unit populated with involuntarily committed patients — individuals who, by the nature of their situation, may face particular challenges in speaking up about abuse, may not fully understand what happened to them, or may fear not being believed.

The lead investigator on the case is Detective Amanda Gay. Anyone who was a patient at HCA Florida West Largo's behavioral health unit between January and May 2026 — or any family member of a patient during that period — who has information that may be relevant to the investigation is being asked to contact Detective Amanda Gay directly at agay@largo.com.

The Vulnerable Victims: Why This Case Is So Serious

The legal classification of these charges — sexual battery on a mentally defective or mentally incapacitated victim — reflects the particular severity with which Florida law treats offences against individuals who are unable to consent or resist because of their mental state. These are not simply sexual battery charges. They are charges that carry enhanced penalties precisely because the victims were at their most vulnerable — involuntarily committed, in a locked unit, dependent entirely on the professional ethics and good faith of the people around them.

The behavioral health unit of a hospital is one of the most structurally vulnerable settings in any healthcare environment. Patients are there because they are in crisis — because their mental state has reached a point where they have been deemed a risk to themselves or others. The power imbalance between a patient who is involuntarily committed and a staff member who holds the keys to the locked unit is as extreme as any institutional power imbalance can be. That imbalance is supposed to be balanced by professional ethics, training, supervision, and institutional accountability. In this case, it was not.

What This Case Demands: Accountability Beyond the Arrest

The arrest of Se'Jour Deangelo Fulks is a necessary first step. It is not a sufficient one. The questions that this case raises about how someone with his prior criminal history was hired into a patient care role at a vulnerable adult facility, about what supervision existed for patient care technicians working the overnight shift in a locked behavioral health unit, about whether the hospital's reporting and investigation processes worked as they should have when victims raised concerns — these questions demand answers that go beyond the criminal proceedings.

Healthcare institutions that serve the most vulnerable members of society — those in mental health crisis, those who are involuntarily committed, those who cannot leave and cannot advocate for themselves — carry an institutional responsibility that matches the vulnerability of the people in their care. The alleged events at HCA Florida West Largo in April 2026 are a reminder of what happens when that responsibility fails.

If you have information relevant to this investigation, contact Detective Amanda Gay at agay@largo.com or call the Largo Police Department.

Sources:

1. FOX 13 Tampa Bay (Full Arrest Report — Three Counts Filed) — https://www.fox13news.com/news/largo-hospital-employee-accused-sexually-battering-2-vulnerable-patients
2. WFLA News Channel 8 (Surveillance Video, Prior Record, Victim Accounts) — https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/largo-hospital-tech-accused-of-sexually-battering-multiple-patients/
3. IONTB (Patient Care Technician Role — Arrest Affidavit Details) — https://iontb.com/former-hca-largo-employee-arrested-on-sexual-battery-charges-involving-patients/
4. Tampa Bay Times (Hospital Suspended and Terminated Fulks — HCA Statement) — https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2026/05/13/hca-florida-west-largo-hospital-sexual-battery-arrest/
5. Tampa Bay 28 (HCA Statement — Zero Bond) — https://www.tampabay28.com/news/region-pinellas/man-accused-of-sexually-battery-on-hospital-patients-in-largo-lpd
6. AOL / Largo Police Statement (Investigation Ongoing — Call for Victims) — https://www.aol.com/news/largo-hospital-staffer-arrested-allegations-205631539.html
7. Mogaz (Prior Convictions Lake House Assisted Living — Full Background) — https://www.mogazmasr.com/103555
8. AOL (Three Counts — Five Month Employment Period) — https://www.aol.com/news/largo-hospital-employee-accused-sexually-211744459.html