Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 12, 1993 TAG: 9308120177
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Saladin Kenyatta Corbin, 27, who now lives in Washington, D.C., faces criminal charges in Pulaski County Circuit Court of attempted rape, attempted forcible sodomy, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and three charges of taking indecent liberties.
All involved the same girl, who was in her teens and was a patient at the hospital.
Corbin was in a doctoral program at Virginia Tech when the offenses he is charged with allegedly occurred and was an intern at the psychiatric hospital in Pulaski County.
Two lawsuits were filed this week in Montgomery County Circuit Court - one on behalf of the girl and the other by her mother. Each suit asks for $1 million dollars in damages from the defendants.
The suits also name St. Albans and Virginia Tech as co-defendants.
The lawsuits accuse Corbin of taking advantage of the girl, who was treated for depression at the psychiatric hospital in April 1992.
The suits claim that Corbin participated in counseling sessions with the girl where "it was determined that she suffered from low self esteem, an obsession with young men, prior sexual promiscuity and sexual dependency."
After she was released from the hospital, the suit alleges, Corbin contacted the girl, "indicated his desire to continue her therapy and arranged to visit her at her home," in Christiansburg.
The suit alleges that during two visits with the girl at her home, Corbin had sex with the girl, who was then 15 years old.
Corbin violated his duty as a health-care provider by these actions, the suit alleges.
The suit claims that St. Albans and Tech are civilly liable for damages because they were negligent in their responsibilities to supervise Corbin.
The girl has suffered emotionally and mentally as a result of the actions Corbin is accused of, according to the lawsuit, and has been "unable to recover from the emotional disorders she was suffering from at the time of these assaults."
The girl's mother, in a separate lawsuit, claims that she also has been damaged by the acts Corbin is accused of. Like her daughter, the woman alleges, she will continue to incur medical costs in an effort to be cured of her emotional and mental distress stemming from the alleged sexual abuse.
Doug Schroder, a Pulaski County assistant commonwealth's attorney, said in March that after allegations against Corbin surfaced, he was removed from Tech's doctoral program once St. Albans dismissed him as an intern and alerted Tech officials.
by CNB