A 72-year-old Coweta County man is facing two counts of sexual battery after a patient and a hospital staff member at Piedmont Newnan separately accused him of inappropriate touching during the same visit. Michael Phippen was taken into custody at his home without incident after deputies responded to the hospital on September 14 following a claim of sexual assault.
According to the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office, the patient told deputies that Phippen entered her hospital room and touched her inappropriately while she was recovering from back surgery and unable to move. She said Phippen, who she identified as her neighbor and someone who came to her home to help care for her, had been visiting to help her eat lunch when the incident occurred.
Hospital Staff Member Reports Separate Incident
A hospital staff member told deputies that she felt someone touch her while she was helping the patient use the restroom, and she later identified Phippen — who was at the hospital visiting the patient after her surgery — as the person responsible. The Times-Herald reports that Phippen allegedly brushed his hand against the nurse’s buttocks and upper thigh while she assisted the patient. The nurse reported the incident to hospital security, who escorted Phippen out of the building, according to the same account.
The patient also told deputies that similar conduct had occurred at her home every day for roughly 13 years, despite her repeatedly asking Phippen to stop. That allegation, which predates the hospital incident by more than a decade, was relayed as part of her statement to investigators reviewing the September 14 hospital complaint.
Deputies Question Phippen at His Home
Deputies located Phippen at his home and questioned him about both allegations. He told them he had only helped the patient use the restroom at the hospital and said he was escorted out by security for touching a nurse, offering his own account of the incident that led to his arrest. He was taken into custody without issue.
Phippen was charged with two counts of sexual battery and is being held at the Coweta County Jail, per the Times-Herald’s reporting on his bond. The sheriff’s office has not indicated whether additional charges related to the alleged decade-plus pattern at the patient’s home are being pursued.
