Hospital worker accused of sexually abusing girl, 15, was also ‘looking after schoolgirl, 18, who killed herself’
A HOSPITAL worker accused of sexually abusing a suicidal young girl in his care had also been looking after another schoolgirl who later killed herself, a court heard today.
The death of 18-year-old pupil Alisha Watts was revealed to a jury during the second day of the trial of Eric Kusi, 29, whose job was to look after young adolescent girls on his hospital ward.
He was arrested by cops after one of his patients - a 15-year-old girl who cannot be named for legal reasons - told how he had been demanding oral sex from her and inappropriately kissed and cuddled her.
Kusi is on trial on six counts of having sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder by a care worker.
A jury was told that his young victim claimed that while Kusi was sexually abusing her he was also "having the same conversations" with Alisha, a patient in a nearby bed at the same hospital.
The defendant was never charged with any offences involving Alisha, a pupil at one of the top schools in Berkshire. She killed herself at her home a year after being a patient under his care.
FOUND DEAD AT HOME
Alisha, a student at the prestigious Kendrick School in Reading, was discovered dead clutching her teddy bear and surrounded by notes to her loved ones on February 6 2018.
Although she was not the complainant in the trial, the jury heard that Alisha had also been approached by Kusi in a similar manner to the 15-year-old complainant.
Judge Paul Dugdale had received a note from one of the jurors, to ask whether the Alisha being mentioned by the complainant in the trial was the same girl she knew of.
The judge said to the jury: "There has been mention of a girl called Alisha who was also at the hospital with the complainant.
"The juror raised a question whether it mattered that she had received some communication about a girl called Alisha Watts who had died from suicide and there was some fundraising events.
The girl we are dealing with is Alisha Watts, same girl. Very tragically, she killed herself in February 2018, about a year or so after the events that we are dealing with
Judge Paul Dugdale
"The girl we are dealing with is Alisha Watts, same girl. Very tragically, she killed herself in February 2018, about a year or so after the events that we are dealing with.
"Nobody in this court would dispute that the suicide of an 18-year-old girl who had so much promise ahead of her, is a tragic event.
"The tragic death of Alisha does not make what she may or may not have said to the complainant in this case any more or less likely to be true. It is just one of those tragic things."
In her interview with the police, the 15-year-old girl had made mention of Alisha as a girl who was in a room near to her on the ward and was also being "looked after" by Kusi.
She said: "All the things he was saying to me, he was saying to Alisha.
"He would go to Alisha's room a few days after she came. He would go into her room like he was doing with me. He was talking to her, he was not talking to me as much. It made me feel jealous.
"HE WAS A LIAR"
"He used to tell me I was mature for my age. He was saying it to her when he said it to me. I just felt like he was a liar. I knew that he was doing it to someone else.
"He said he liked and loved me, not Alisha. He said, 'I would rather go to prison for you'."
Earlier, the jury heard how Kusi told the suicidal 15-year-old she had a "fat stomach" before sexually abusing her.
Prosecutors said the girl was sexually abused by the care worker while a patient at an adolescent mental health unit and later cut the his date of birth into to both her arms to mark their difference in age.
In a piece of creative writing which was played to the jury, she wrote: "I have no self-esteem since you called me fat. Just be aware of other people's feelings.
"I hope you are proud of yourself. I still feel disgusting. Fat and disgusting. Fat b*** that deserves to be six feet underground."
YOU'RE NOT ALONE
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide.
It doesn't discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society - from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It's the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it's rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You're Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let's all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others... You're Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, , 0800 585 858
- Heads Together,
- Mind, , 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus,, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans, , 116 123
Kusi, of Reading, Berks, denies six counts of having sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder by a care worker, which included two counts of oral sex she was alleged to have performed on him.
Walton Hornsby, prosecuting, said: "This case concerns a sexual relationship between Eric Kusi and a 15-year-old girl.
"That relationship arose out the fact that the defendant, for a period of time, was a care worker at a unit attached to a Berkshire hospital.
"In that unit were a relatively small number of troubled adolescent, teenage girls, most of them were in there because of serious disorders, serious mental health issues, including self-harm and suicidal ideation.
“The complainant was admitted to the unit after reporting various suicidal thoughts and there had been number of incidents of quite severe self-harm, cutting.
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“She was described by various people as a nice girl and there were no complaints about her behaviour, but clearly she was mentally vulnerable and easy to take advantage of.
"The defendant was kind, he was an attractive young man and he befriended the complainant and that in itself would not have resulted in his appearance at Reading Crown Court.
"That kindliness and friendliness crossed the line, from being a comforting presence, a reassuring presence, the defendant became a sexual partner to the complainant."
The trial continues.
