A patient who was raped in 2009 at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program's facility in Moose Lake has been awarded $130,000 in a settlement with the state Department of Human Services (DHS).
Philip Goldhammer, 35, alleged that he was raped by his roommate after staff ignored his requests to be transferred to another room. William Cardwell, Goldhammer's roommate, tried to commit suicide following his attack.
It took more than a year and a half after the rape before DHS issued a "client compatibility" policy designed to protect patients from such threatening situations. Prior to the rape, Goldhammer, who weighs just over 140 pounds, described feeling intimidated by being housed with the 266-pound Cardwell.
Goldhammer will have his own room for 18 months to help recover from the assault under the settlement agreement.
Cardwell, 45, was convicted of assault with great bodily harm after the attack and sentenced to more than nine years in prison.
PAUL McENROE
