Deferred sentences let suspect pass job check

A state mental health hospital worker accused of slipping an anti-anxiety pill into a woman’s drink last month passed a background check because he received deferred sentences for two previous convictions.

According to court records, Robert Lawrence Psaty, 56, was accused of assaulting a prison nurse in 1993 while he was a lieutenant at the Centennial Correctional Facility in Cañon City.

He was charged with false imprisonment, harassment and third-degree assault after the nurse accused him of locking her up, threatening her with a stun gun and grabbing her blouse and looking inside.

He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in 1994 and received a deferred sentence.

By law, the Department of Human Services is required to run criminal background checks on its employees. It rejects applicants if they are convicted of violent crimes and felony offenses involving sexual behavior or child abuse. Applicants will also be turned down if they violate a protection order.

Because a deferred sentence is expunged from an offender’s record if the person successfully completes terms and conditions set by the court, it would have prevented red flags from coming up in 2004 when Psaty applied for a job at the state hospital.

In 2002, Psaty was accused of criminal mischief. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in that case and received another deferred sentence.

Hospital spokeswoman Eunice Wolther said Psaty was placed on paid admin- istrative leave Feb. 14, the day he was arrested on suspicion of inducing consumption of a controlled substance by fraudulent means.

According to police, Psaty was having dinner with a woman he met through a dating service at Ruby Tuesday restaurant at 1340 Garden of the Gods Road on Jan. 3.

A waiter saw Psaty drop a Diazepam pill into the woman’s drink, police said. The waiter took the drink from the table and called police.

Wolther said Psaty is a mental health clinician at the Colorado Mental Health Institute. Clinicians conduct group therapy sessions and help manage patient cases, but they do not have access to medication and cannot administer it to patients.

Psaty is a former member of the Florence City Council. He resigned in 1995.

Psaty, who is free on $3,000 bond, is due in court today when he is set to be advised of the accusation against him.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-4813 or kim.nguyen@gazette.com