Dr. Aaron Bowen. And Steven "Hypersexual" Dingle, Sexual Predator.  

Wherein, based on emergent information about the current Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Aaron Bowen, at Arizona's sole long term public mental health care facility, I would ask that the public take a good hard look at whether or not this entrusted individual is legitimately up to prioritizing the interests of Arizona State Hospital's patient community over those of the historically corrupt administrators responsible for the operation of ASH. 

This concern- whether the current head administrator over the operation of ASH possesses sound background and character specific to the responsibility(s) associated with this position- is of serious relevance to not only the wellbeing of ASH patients, but as importantly, patients' families, as well as the “good staff” at ASH who suffer unlawful pressure from hospital managers and administrators to make sure that "Whatever happens at ASH stays at ASH."

Important, as well, to the general public. This significance is based in part due to the tragic death of April Mott in late August, 2011, who was murdered by an escaped patient named Jesus Rincon Murietta. In the days immediately following this man's violent escape from ASH, the escape itself was covered up ASH administrators, such as (since fired) Cory Nelson and Donna Noriega, and senior ranking medical staff, namely the Hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Steven Dingle. 

The plain fact is, Ms. Mott had no direct connection to any element of the Arizona State Hospital's grossly substandard care practices outside of the impact of the willingness of said administrators to put the safety and welfare of the public behind their own criminally selfish interests. Had these highly entrusted state employees possessed any modicum of care for the public, versus possessing nothing other then vile and decrepit selfishness, Ms. Mott would be alive today. 

And by the way, Dr. Bowen. Steven Dingle is a sexual predator. Little different from Roger James Forney, convicted sexual predator of children.

Roger James Forney.
ASH security Guard 2010-2013
Convicted sexual child predator.
Now in prison.

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Introduction: It is bad enough that the long standing chief medical officer at Arizona State Hospital, Dr. Steven Dingle,  got away with his part in covering up the escape of Jesus Rincon Murietta in May, 2011, failing as such to meet his very real legal obligations as a licensed psychiatrist and the established  medical standard, Duty To Warn. Bad enough, too, that neither Dingle nor any other of ASH's psychiatric staff were included in the early 2015 firing of six other individuals directly associated with the operation and substandard conditions there. This is  very disturbing given that as per hospital policy, patients are required to report issues of concern to their assigned ASH psychiatrists before seeking to file grievances.

In my own experience when I was an ASH patient (2011-12), I did in fact take my earliest concerns to my first attending psychiatrist, Dr. Laxman Patel, who blatantly disregarded those concerns with comments such as "Don't worry about anything other then your own treatment... What? Do you think you can change the system?; my second attending psychiatrist, Dr. Pervaiz Akhter, who stated more then once "Who do you think you are? There is nothing you can do about it."; my third attending psychaiarist, Dr. Lynn Lydon, who expressed her disinterest in wrongdoing with the statement "I personally don't care much for rules."; as well as my fourth and final attending psychiatrist at ASH (yes, they definitely panned me to one after another attending doctor due, as I see it, to my ongoing willingness to express concern in this context, with absolutely no regard for the concept of continuity of care), Dr. Sylvia Dy, who, quite frankly, was unable to understand or speak english to such a degree that there was no point in me even trying to communicate with her about such issues. I have said it before: I could not make this shit up if I had to. This proves my point that these highly entrusted medical providers have as much knowledge as any other Hospital employee about such issues of concern.

But to add the reality of recent history, the documented fact that Dingle has on a number of occasions engaged in sexually harassing and abusing the rights of females under his authority is utterly nauseating. This is a man entrusted by Arizona taxpayers to oversee the welfare of a highly vulnerable to abuse and negligence population, wherein state and federal laws have been enacted over the last fifty years designed to diminish the presence of such issues. It is known fact that sexual abusers and predators rely on such vulnerability in terms of satisfying their depraved desires. And yet, there we find him, the highest ranking medical officer in a state mental hospital., carrying on as though he's unbridled by the standards of civil society and American culture.

With the policy of having to turn to your assigned psychiatrist when issues of concern arise in mind, each and every ASH patient, all of whom are hands down the central stakeholders in terms of the quality of care at ASH, rely very heavily upon their assigned psychiatrist to ensure that their given welfare is prioritized. And as such, with respect for recent history, each and every ASH psychiatrist was 100% complicit in condoning the issues that led to those firings. And yet somehow, the person responsible for addressing those issues, Dr. Cara Christ (Director, Arizona Department of Health Services [ADHS, Department]), saw no just cause to hold these doctors accountable for their undeniable role in it all, instead laying the blame on non-medical staff (and one nurse supervisor). This was an example of classic scapegoating if ever we might come upon it.

Current ADHS Director
Dr. Cara Christ

Less then two weeks ago, a current patient at Arizona State Hospital (ASH [Hospital]) raised concern over the fact that Dingle has a publicly documented record of sexually abusing younger, less empowered women, which for all practical purposes defines him as a known sexual predator. Upon the patient voicing that reasonable concern, as per his or her sense of civic duty, and not to mention his or her first amendment right to free speech, the current CEO of the Hospital, Dr. Aaron Bowen, interfered with the patient’s expression of this concern, in an overt attempt to defend Dingle’s history in context. 

Shortly after this specific incident was reported by David Biscobing of ABC Ch15 (Phoenix), the Department issued its own defense of Dingle, utterly deferring the facts to its own convenience, rather then acknowledging the reality as it stands in the record.  Given the recent developments and national attention being given to the insidious presence of sexual predation on women in government,  media, and elsewhere throughout the fabric of American culture, it shocks the conscience to consider why this is the case.  But this is the case, and we the staff of Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse find it unacceptable.

The issue of Dingle's documented record as a sexual predator (Arizona Board of Medical Examiners cace #9412) has been reported by this publication since 2014, which is when the staff of this publication discovered said documented record; and most recently in articles produced on December 08 and December 14, 2017. We have also confirmed that these most recent articles about Dingle’s record as a sexual predator are what triggered the interest and concern of the involved patient. We appreciate this brave patient's fortitude, and wish to assure he or she that we are willing to do whatever might be necessary to ensure that they suffer no more such abuse from Aaron Bowen, or anyone else of such status. 

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I  will begin this article with a little history. In 1997, Dr. Steven Dingle- who has been the chief medical officer at Arizona State Hospital (ASH) for over ten years- was found guilty of violating state and federal law specific to sexual abuse and harassment by the state’s Board of the Medical Examiner. Despite the significance of this finding, only a few years later, the Department of Health Services (ADHS, Department) chose to employ this man, a known sexual predator, as a treating psychiatrist at ASH. His hiring in this case in consistent with the fact that state mental hospitals are safe havens for persons with questionable, even criminal, backgrounds. 

For example, in 2011, ADHS hired one Roger James Forney , a convicted child sexual predator, to work at ASH as a security guard. Subsequently, after being hired by ADHS, in 2013  Forney was convicted a second time after the discovery in his apartment of extensive photos of child pornography. This too was reported in this publication at that point in time (see “Roger James Forney. One Example of Filth.” November 04, 2013.), and in several other articles, as well.

 Former, since fired
ASH CEO/ADHS official
Cory Nelson

Roger James Forney's
2013 mug shot.

In late summer, 2011, one business day after a formal grievance document prepared on my behalf by a state employed human rights advocate named John Gallagher was submitted to the administrators of ASH, Steven Dingle and the then Chief Executive Officer, Cory Nelson (who was fired several years later, see below) blatantly ignored Hospital protocol by transferring me against my wishes from the unit I had very appropriately been admitted to, Palo Verde unit, based on my given diagnosis of major depressive disorder to one of the most dangerous units at ASH, Desert Sage, a unit formally designated to treat persons with acute psychosis. I contend the obvious, that this action constituted overt retaliation on the basis of the above described grievance filing. As such, this action occurred in gross violation of my protections under the Americans With Disabilities Act, which patently forbids any action so much as resembling retaliation when any disabled individual opposes the practice() of a medical provider.

Former, since fired
ASH CEO
Donna Noriega

In early 2015, following three years of federal intervention, no less then six individuals directly associated with the operation of Arizona State Hospital were summarily fired on the basis of evidence to the effect that they were all complicit in allowing for the facility to operate in defiance of state and federal law, as well as established medical standards. Of note in those firings was the ouster of then current ASH chief executive officer Donna Noriega and her immediate predecessor Cory Nelson, both of whom were suspected of everything from destroying public documents to perjury and fraudulent dispersal of public information. They and their associate lawbreakers in this scandal were fired by the then incoming Director of Arizona Department of Health Services, Dr. Cara Christ, who was was appointed by equally incoming governor Doug Ducey in January, 2015.

Will "Yea Team!" Humble
Former since fled Director
 ADHS
2009-2015

Christ's appointment came about after the unexpected resignation- with little to no notice- of one Will Humble, under whose authority the Hospital had been operating far short of the expectations of the citizens of Arizona, including ASH's patient community, as per the public trust. Ironic, indeed (but far from surprising), that beyond continually pouring undue praise onto the Rat Bastards who ran ASH under his stewardship, whereby, most of whom were targeted in the spring 2015 scandal, that this man would state that he believes he left ADHS "In good shape..." 

Following these actions, Christ appointed Dr. Aaron Bowen to the position of ASH's Chief Executive Officer. It has been not quite three years since these in-house appointments went down, supposedly in the name of meaningful reform in relation to the known fact that ASH was at that time- spring 2015- on the verge of losing its federally required licensure. Sadly, there has been far less good news in terms of what has transpired since then, then there has been anything resembling evidence of actual improvements. What we have seen falls directly along the lines of the same propagandized language that the facility relied upon in the years immediately preceding its recent demise; including the still current buzz term, Center of Psychiatric Excellence, and other such claims by a classically bureaucratic administration that even today is attracting deep seated criticism by patients and their families, the Hospitals Human Rights Committee, and we, the staff of Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse.

Now, I will take a moment describing the role of ASH's Human Rights Committee (HRC).

FACT: When I was hospitalized at ASH, from January 11, 2011, to February 21, 2012, there was no functioning HRC at ASH, in graphic defiance of this being a requirement of law. It was only after I submitted a legal memo to former ADHS Director Will Humble dictating the applicable law in summer, 2012, that he abided by said law and established HRC at ASH.  

The following is a section of the applicable statute (one can view it in its entirety on the state's official website).

R9-21-105. Human Rights Committee. According to A.R.S. §§ 41-3803 and 41-3804.  

       A. The Administration shall establish human rights committees to
provide independent oversight to ensure that the rights of clients 

and enrolled children are protected. The Administration shall

establish at least one human rights committee for each region and 
the Arizona State Hospital.

     B. Each human rights committee shall be composed of at least seven and not more   
than 15 members. At least two members of the committee shall be clients or former clients, at least two members shall be relatives of clients, two members shall be parents of enrolled children and at least three members shall have expertise in one of the following areas: psychology, law, medicine, education, special education, social work, or behavioral health services.    

     E.  No employee of individual under contract with Administration,   
regional authority, or service provider may be a voting member of a committee.

I was made aware of this fact- the law itself- by the same human rights advocate mentioned above (John Gallagher) when I was in my last few months at ASH, circa late 2011. I contacted an individual in the Department at that time and inquired as to why there was no functioning HRC at ASH. The woman I spoke to advised me that the sole reason for this was "Because nobody is interested in taking part….”, a claim that his since been prover as patently untrue. Rest assured that if this requirement had been enforced then and there, a wide variety of issues would have been reasonably addressed, by me, via the presence of HRC had it excited then). It was not until I discharged from ASH in late February, 2012, that I actually had the opportunity to study the relevant sestet (law), which compelled me to draft a legal memo to then acting ADHS Director Will Humble , demanding that an HRC be established. This did occur in relatively short time fooling that communication. (The staff of this publication has remained in contact with the Chair person of HRC, who was appointed at the time of the establishment of HRC in 2012, and who has since that time diligently maintained her given responsibility in defiance of the attempts of various ASH administrators to cow her into silence and submission.)

As the above section of this standard of law dictates, the HRC is to provide INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT in terms of the rights and care needs of ASH's patients. Such independent oversight is critical to the function of any publicly managed agency, in order to ensure that the tax payers who support the existence of such agencies have a clear avenue by which to know that their interests are being met. When it comes to persons affected by disability, this need amplifies in paradoxical coincidence, given the fact that such populations have historically been abused, neglected, and otherwise subject to harm.

In achieving reasonable independence, the HRC memberships must as per the law include members of the greater public, patient family members, at least one actual (current) patient, and other like sources not subject to undue influence of the state itself: "No employee under contract with the Administration, regional authority, or service provider may be voting member of the committee."

But how does Aaron Bowen feel about the clearly parameters of this standard of law and policy? As described in ABC 15's recent coverage of sex scandals at ASH, upon the willingness of current ASH patient/HRC member to express concern about longtime ASH chief medical officer Dr. Steven "Hypersexual" Dingle, who has a very real record of being a sexual predator, this is what happened in a recent meeting of the HRC:

"lArizona State Hospital CEO Dr. Aaron Bowen interjected by saying, 'I can’t have folks calling my CMO a sexual predator in public', according to audio of the meeting obtained by ABC15."  (ABC Ch15 December 14, 2017. David Biscobing.)

Bowen's interference with the patient in this instance was wrongful, arguably egregious, in fact. The United States Bill of Rights, Amendment One, provides American citizens across the board- including persons institutionalized in state mental hospitals- the right to exercise speech, and prohibits government- including employees of state agencies- from abridging this right. Why the chief executive officer of ASH would not be aware of this right, I cannot easily fathom. And yet, there it is.

Bowen's interference also contradicts the statutory law by which the HRC functions (see above: R9-21-105. Human Rights Committee. According to A.R.S. §§ 41-3803 and 41-3804). This willful interference may not have constituted an actual vote, but it does have the potential to effect the HRC's voting procedures, ergo implying another element of Bowen's unlawful conduct.  All the patient sought to do was express opinion and reasonable concern, as per his or her first amendment right, which is especially preserved in public settings. This only solidifies my suspicion that Bowen and his superiors in the Department are out to try and pull the same garbage as the prior administrators at ASH.

Specifically, in her relatively short tenure of as the Hospital's CEO, Donna "since fired" Noriega, was known to use intimidation and outright threats to the function of HRC, threats that extended at times to her belief that she could terminate the positions of members at her discretion. By engaging in such undue conduct,  Noriega and her numb-skulled associate  Cory Nelson, (also fired in spring 2015) went far beyond simply turning a blind eye towards issues of serious concern, their given malfeasance that extended well into the realm of literally furthering such issues by willfully covering them up. This occurred though patterns of misleading federal authorities and defying the tenets of the public trust by which they were employed. All of it representative of a cavernous disconnect between the rights and care needs of their specific clientele, to the direct detriment of the general welfare of the entire ASH patient community, each and every one of whom is disabled under state and federal law.

The staff of this publication contend that  Bowen's conduct in this matter matches that of Noriega in this context. Serious stuff.  

Aaron Bowen may  or may not meet the requisite character and ethos to meaningfully provide optimum care to the ASH patient community. This is something that should become readily evident in the near future, as the story about Dingle evolves. We, of course will stay on that.

But one thing is certain in the meantime. Bowen is most definitely a bureaucrat. Herein take a glance at his basic background, as provided by the non-profit organization, David's Hope.

Dr. Aaron Bowen PsyD completed his Doctor of Psychology with a Forensic Certification. Dr. Bowen has worked and trained in several correctional facilities in Chicago, IL and Phoenix, AZ. He also worked for and managed the SMI Determinations Unit at Magellan Health Services and served as Director of Clinical Analytics, Outcomes and Integration. Dr. Bowen provided services and consultation for the AZDBHS, the RBHAs and the Social Security Administration. He has conducted approximately 2,500 psychological evaluations for Social Security Disability. Dr. Bowen currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Arizona State Hospital and the Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

David's Hope states on its website that "Reducing incarceration and promoting treatment for those with mental illness and addictions in Arizona and across the nation is our vision." Which of course sounds great (right?). But if we go to the meat of this one detail of Bowen's resume', it only clarifies that he has as much if not more experience in corrections- and the monstrously bureaucratic Social Security System for crying out loud-  then anything and anywhere else. Undeniably consistent with the resume of the other former ASH CEO who was fired in spring 2015, Cory Nelson.

It is the opinion of this publication and a host of established advocacy groups that state hospitals are no place for people coming out of the corrections industry. Which corrections ala' the prison system is, an industrial complex that has historically sought to house, as though cattle, individuals convicted of crime, versus in any way treat persons affected by illness of any kind and much less so disability. The deeply jaded history of America's prisons speaks for itself, but who is it that speaks for the patients in settings such as ASH? Individuals such as Aaron Bowen?

It's also crucial to understand that the corrections industry is increasingly seeking to privatize its general operations in order to make corporate profits a priority over the rights and interests of inmates. This is readily evident on a national level, but Arizona is somewhat leading the way. Any coincidence, this fact, and the plan of ADHS and ASH to privatize a proportion of the Hospital rather then focus on improving the conditions of the facility as it already exists? Spinning as they have the whole facade that ASH has somehow flipped in only three years from what some advocates characterize as the site of the ugliest public mental health care facility scandal in the new millennium to a Center of Psychiatric Excellence?

Which flies in the face of what the families of ASH current patients are asking for right now,  who have made clear the need for not only more publically funded beds at ASH itself, (See "Parents of mentally ill plead for expanded services at Arizona State Hospital." Kate Campbell. Arizona Capital Times. November 24, 2017); as well concerns expressed by the general public, who have noted the need for expanded services in publicly funded services throughout the state. (See "Seize the moment to get more services for the most seriously mentally ill." Guest column authored by the parents of seriously mentally ill children and members of the Association for the Chronically Mentally Ill. Arizona Capital Times. December 14, 2017.)

Knowing what we do about how privatization has impacted public services of virtually any form, in accompaniment with the inhumane nature of bureaucratic systems of governance, it is clear that the current CEO of ASH is as if not more disconnected to the patient community then even Cory Nelson was, this on the ironic basis of so called qualifications. This should be of serious concern to anyone with a sincere interest on the welfare of ASH patients across the board.

As included in the ABC Ch15 report about the Dingle scandal, the public also has ample opportunity to consider the quality of Arizona Department Of Health Services at this time by considering the tone of its official response to ABC in context. As noted above, Dr. Cara Christ is the current director of Arizona Department of Health, appointed by the governor in early 2015 after the hasty departure of Will Humble. This publication has in the past encouraged Christ to legitimately bring reformation to the patterns of corruption that ASH is known for today. And she in turn, did on one occasion (at least) contact us, offering no assurance of her commitment in context, instead begging our willingness to presume that things were already better. Which we did, even not in utter presumption. But today we have more to consider, given that  Christ would have rubber-stamped the official response of ADHS to this most recent scandal at ASH, offered herein, in part:

       'Dr. Steven Dingle... has not had any complaints or allegatons of sexual misconduct or harassment and there have been no personnel actions while working for ADHS over the past 16 years...."

What is the good of this? The real question(s) has little to do with what the last sixteen years look like. For one thing, why should the public presume that Dingle has not been engaged in any such conduct at ASH (or elsewhere) anyway, given the known state sanctioned secrecy about wrongdoing that has characterized ASH in recent years? 

The question(s) as such, is why the hell was this man hired in the first place? Why was the risk of hiring a man with this known history- when it was recent in fact- even taken? Is this case in any way akin to that of Roger James Forney, who was hired by ADHS in 2011 to work at ASH within one year of his being convicted of sexual exploitation of children? Is it, thus, acceptable practice for the state to hire such monsters and then hope for the best? (Forney as again identified and convicted in 2013 for further engaging in his disgusting behavior.) And then (!) come to their defense when they are in fact exposed for who and what they are?

It is clear from the record, that the only reason Dingle got away with a literal slap on the wrist has to do with his being a freaking doctor. It is a known feature to the medical profession that if there's any one thing doctors hate to do, it is to criticize their peers. Just as none of the staff psychiatrists at ASH were included in the alleged process of cleanup that occurred in spring 2015, it is apparent that even now, Christ and her underling Aaron Bowen ("I can't have folks calling my CMO a sexual predator.....") are going to do whatever they have to in order to suppress the truth, merely so as to preserve the interests of their peers no matter how ugly that truth.

It is high time that Dr. Christ cease and desist in carrying on in her role in the same way that her chicken shit predecessor did. Have some courage, for God's sake, have some compassion. Diminish your given status as a mere cog in the bureaucracy, and stand out in the public interest.

Just do the right thing, already.

IN CLOSING: The Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse is currently experiencing one of the largest surges in public readership in its history, over five hundred "dedicated visits" in the last 56 hours (as per the format that the blog is produced on, such is defined as ten or more minutes of viewing of no more then one posted article.) Indeed, this recent upswing is comparable to the last time the hammer fell at ASH. A time for further reckoning is clearly arising, and as usual, we the staff of this BLOG are going to be right here to make sure it all hits the public flood lights. 

I also know that David Biscobing and his associates at ABC Ch15 are taking a good hard look at the matter as it already stands. Thanks to them, ergo. We will as we always have share our data as it evolves, for we do fairly well share the common objective of seeing that the ones running ASH don't get away with abusing the rights and interests of the highly vulnerable to abuse and neglect patient community there. Bowen's treatment of the patient who expressed his or her opinion in the above described HRC meeting is representative of such abuse;  and is inhumane, criminal in nature, and overwhelmingly in defiance of the public trust.

More later. Thanks as always to all of the good staff at ASH who day and day out, some of you for years (and I know who you are), strive to better the experiences of all ASH patients across the board. Without you few (it was few when I was there....), we'd be lost.

paoloreed@gmail.com