A hospital worker from Florida has been arrested after he was allegedly caught sucking on the toes of an elderly patient while she slept, Newsweek reported.
23-year-old Frantz Beldonin was taken to Lee County jail earlier this week and charged with battery on a person over the age of 65, but he insists the whole thing is just one big misunderstanding.
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The alleged incident took place at Gulf Coast Hospital in Fort Myers, Florida, where Beldonin was working as a “sitter” for a patient deemed a flight risk.
That patient’s unnamed roommate told police she awoke in her bed at around 11 PM on February 24 because she felt her right foot was being touched.
Believing it was just a nurse checking for swelling, she said she was shocked to open her eyes and see Beldonin on his knees with his head bent over her foot.
The patient accused Beldonin of sucking on her toes and he was subsequently arrested.
After spending the night in Lee County jail, he was released on $1,500 bail and is now awaiting trial scheduled for March 30. In the meantime, he has been fired from his job at the hospital.
Beldonin has since spoken out about the incident and insisted the patient misinterpreted his actions that night.
“I dropped my phone under the bed, and as I’m trying to get my phone and she kicks,” he told WBBH . “She’s afraid and we’re in the dark. It’s a dark room with a dark male at the foot of her bed. I can understand.”
“When the security came and got me, I was like ‘what’s going on?’ and they were like ‘just come with me,'” he continued. “It makes me look crazy… or, like, creepy, and I’m not that type of dude.”
Beldonin’s mother has since come to her son’s defense and insisted racism is responsible for her son’s arrest.
She explained he’s worked at that same hospital for four years and knows that he would never do what he’s been accused of.
“No, no, no… never. That’s not my son,” she said. “He would never do that, they just put him in jail and said he sucked the lady’s toes.”
The 23-year-old said he lost his job and his reputation all in one night over a simple misunderstanding.
“I know there’s other opportunities,” he told WBBH , “but there won’t be if I get hit with this felony.”
Lee Health released a statement confirming they’re working with law enforcement, but can’t comment further since the incident is still being investigated.
h/t: Newsweek
