Two former hospital employees are accused of taking and sharing inappropriate photos of patients

GREENSBURG, Pa. (WTAE) – When a person goes to the hospital, it’s safe to assume that staff won’t take photos of the patient naked and then text each other.

Two former employees of a Pennsylvania hospital are facing charges for their alleged crimes.

According to court documents, the workers, 36-year-old Peter Castellano and 36-year-old Melissa Tompkins, have warrants for invasion of privacy and criminal use of a communications facility.

Casey White is the attorney defending Tompkins. He says she plans to turn herself in.

“She’s disappointed, but in some ways she’s looking forward to hopefully clearing her name,” White claimed.

An attorney for Castellano says his client plans to do the same.

The two defendants’ criminal complaints allege that the improper conduct included video and audio recordings as well as still images of elderly patients with varying degrees of nudity.

Both defendants have denied any wrongdoing.

Tompkins even told police it was a co-worker who took her cell phone to take a photo that she believed was a selfie.

“Your colleague was involved in pranks and unfortunately she was prosecuted as a result of those pranks and there is no obvious evidence that she took the pictures,” White suggested.

After Tompkins told police that her colleague wanted to take a selfie, a detective confronted her with an image of an older man with his genitals exposed that appeared to be from her phone.

The complaint says Tompkins responded, “It looks bad and it looks like I sent it.”

White says his client is adamant she wasn’t the one operating the phone.

“She is certainly disappointed in the actions of others,” White said.

Westmoreland Hospital issued a statement thanking another employee who reported the incident.

“She once again put herself in a situation she shouldn’t have been in,” Tompkins’ attorney added. “However, today we believe that she has not put herself in a position to be criminally charged.”

The hospital also said all employees allegedly involved were immediately terminated.

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