Report: Spokane VA medical center employee charged in Montana child sex assault case

A man employed in the surgical department of Spokane’s Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center was arrested last week in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a child in Montana.

KXLY-TV reported Tuesday that court records in Lake County, Montana, indicate Frank D. Paulsen is charged with two counts of felony sexual assault.

Court documents say an adult reported earlier this year that Paulsen sexually assaulted them in 2002 when they were 6 years old.

When contacted by The Spokesman-Review early Tuesday evening, Mann-Grandstaff spokesman Bret Bowers confirmed Paulsen is charged in a Montana criminal case.

Bowers said Paulsen has been employed at the hospital since at least 2011. He said he remains an employee, although Mann-Grandstaff’s general counsel is reviewing the situation in light of the recent charges. In a 2016 Spokesman-Review article, Paulsen identified himself as a hospital administrator.

KXLY-TV reported Paulsen is accused of kissing and touching a child, as well as other sexually explicit behaviors toward a child, while he was living in Montana 16 years ago.

Paulsen was arrested earlier this week, booked into the Spokane County Jail and released. He was ordered to not have any contact with the alleged victim and is scheduled to appear in Montana court next week.

Paulsen is not the first Mann-Grandstaff employee to be accused of child molestation. Craig Morgenstern, a former emergency room doctor, was convicted of 35 counts of sexual abuse and child porn charges in February 2016 and later sentenced to life in prison.