Ohio morgue attendant admits to having sex with corpses
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Ohio county home to a scandal-ridden morgue can be sued.
Kenneth Douglas, 60, worked at the Hamilton County morgue from 1976 until 1992. During a deposition, Douglas admitted that he had sex with as many as 100 corpses. He added that sometimes, he was either drunk or on drugs while violating the corpses. "I would just get on top of them and pull my pants down," Douglas said.
Three of the victims' families brought a lawsuit against Hamilton County in 2012, and Douglas was convicted of "gross abuse of a corpse" in three cases. In 2008, Douglas' DNA was found on the body of Karen Range, a woman who died at 19 with whom Douglas reportedly had sex.
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The county, for its part, argues that it isn't responsible for the actions of its employees. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, ruled Friday that a jury could find the county guilty of negligence. The prosecutor's office is now reviewing the court's ruling.
"If I hadn't had anything to drink when I went to work, it wouldn't happen," Douglas said during a 2012 trial. "I would do crack and go in and drink and go in."
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Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
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