Mecklenburg County employee suspended after arrest in sexual assault investigation
Mecklenburg County Public Health has suspended an employee amid a sexual assault investigation, county spokeswoman Suzette Nedrich confirmed Wednesday.
Daniel Pitti-Casazola, 41, was arrested in the case of a woman reporting she “received an illegitimate medical exam” at her home July 11 from someone “impersonating a medical professional,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said in a statement Tuesday.
Police said Wednesday he’s been charged with felony sexual contact under pretext of medical treatment.
CMPD’s statement identified Pitti-Casazola as a Spanish language interpreter with the Mecklenburg County Health Department “at the time of the incident.” Nedrich told the Charlotte Observer he’s worked for the county as an interpreter since June 2014.
He was assigned to the “Care Management for At Risk Children” department, according to a personnel file obtained by the Observer via a public records request.
Pitti-Casazola was arrested at a county building Tuesday afternoon and “has been placed on suspension pending the outcome of the investigation,” Nedrich said in a Wednesday statement.
The county health department, human resources department and county attorneys “are fully cooperating” with CMPD’s investigation, according to Nedrich.
Nedrich’s statement did not specify whether Pitti-Casazola is suspended with or without pay, and she told an Observer reporter that information would have to be obtained via a public records request.
The county also did not address questions from an Observer reporter about what access Pitti-Casazola had to patient records in his capacity as an interpreter with the health department and under what pretense he gained access to the woman’s home.
The alleged assault occurred July 11 at an apartment in the 3400 block of Teal Point Drive, according to a CMPD incident report. A 32-year-old woman told police that day an “unknown suspect deceitfully entered her home and touched her in an intimate area,” the report said.
CMPD said in a social media post the woman told police “that she had been sexually assaulted by an individual who used his employment as a Spanish language interpreter with the Mecklenburg County Health Department to impersonate a health professional.”
The CMPD report does not name the woman who alleged the assault. It says she was not injured.
CMPD’s investigation “is active and ongoing,” the department’s statement noted.
Anyone with information in the case or “who believes they may also be a victim” should call police at 704-336-8279, CMPD said. Anonymous information can also be shared with police via Crime Stoppers by calling 704-334-1600 or visiting charlottecrimestoppers.com.
This story was originally published July 19, 2023 at 12:03 PM.
