>>Former Willow Creek Behavioral Health nurse charged with sexual assault of minor patients

GREEN BAY – A former nurse at Willow Creek Behavioral Health faces child sexual assault charges for two incidents with underage girls who were patients at the Green Bay facility.

Ysurf Shariff, 34, of Mosinee, is charged with three counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child, two counts of exposing genitals or intimate parts to a child and one count of child enticement.

Officials say the incidents occurred in February and April, with a 13-year-old patient and a 16-year-old patient. According to the investigation, Shariff had a previous sexual misconduct allegation against him while he worked as an emergency room nurse at Ascension St. Michael’s Hospital in Stevens Point in 2015; however, no criminal charges were ever filed because Stevens Point police could not confirm a crime took place.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Brown County Circuit Court, a 13-year-old Willow Creek patient said she asked Shariff on Feb. 18 if she could perform oral sex on him. Later that day, she asked to see him alone in a consultation room on two separate occasions. She said during these incidents, he allowed her to fondle him and asked her to unclothe.

The patient told police Shariff told her if she told anyone what happened “she would end up in a mental hospital for a year” and that “this is what people do when they love each other, they cannot tell anyone,” the complaint says.

The girl said Shariff promised they would have further sexual contact the next day, but he did not show up for work.

During an interview with police March 3, Shariff confirmed that he and the 13-year-old patient went into a private consultation room alone together on three separate occasions on Feb. 18, according to the complaint. Shariff told police the only inappropriate behavior that occurred that day was during the second time they were in the room together, when the patient said she wanted to perform oral sex on Shariff. Shariff said he “redirected her away from sexual topics” at that time.

Shariff agreed with police that it was “probably not in his best interest” to return to the private room a third time after the conversation with the patient, but he said nothing sexual ever occurred.

Then, on April 5, police were called to Willow Creek for a report of a sexual assault.

A 16-year-old girl told Willow Creek staff that on April 2, Shariff took her into a private consultation room where he asked her to show him her breasts in exchange for antidepressants.

The patient said Shariff told her he also wanted to touch her breasts and buttocks on a later date. She said he told her “getting the medication could risk his job so it had to be worth his time,” the complaint says.

The patient said she showed him her breasts for approximately three seconds, then he said repeatedly that “she better not tell anyone,” the complaint says. She said she never received the antidepressants he promised her.

In a police interview about the incident, Shariff denied it happened. He said his conversation with the patient in the consultation room was about getting her the antidepressant medication, but said Willow Creek had been trying to wean her off of it. Shariff said he told the patient he could not prescribe her medication, and nothing sexual or inappropriate was discussed.

Willow Creek staff members told police Shariff was placed on administrative leave during the investigation. They also told police the consultation rooms are designed for privacy, where patients can talk with with staff members “in a private controlled setting,” according to the complaint.

The complaint also summarizes a police report about sexual misconduct involving Shariff from the Stevens Point Police Department dated July 12, 2015.

According to the complaint, a woman was in the emergency room at Ascension St. Michael’s Hospital — now Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital — at that time for a sore throat. She said while Shariff was taking her temperature and blood pressure, she told him she was recently kicked out of the Salvation Army and was looking for a place to live.

The woman said Shariff then said he was part owner of an apartment in Plover and could get her access to a furnished apartment for three months free with no security deposit, but “he would need something in return,” the complaint says. The woman said Shariff implied the exchange would be made for sexual favors, and she declined.

The woman said he stated, “You need a place by Monday, we could take care of it right here in the exam room. No one will come in,” the complaint says. She said he then left the room. When Shariff returned to discharge her, the woman said she turned on her cellphone to record, and Sharoff saw her holding her phone and “started to act clinical.”

The Stevens Point Police Department said Shariff denied the accusations during an interview, and without being able to establish if a crime took place, no charges were pursued, according to the complaint.

Shariff was released from custody on $50,000 bond. As conditions of his bond, he can have no contact with Willow Creek Behavioral Health Center or unsupervised contact with people under age 18.

His adjourned initial appearance is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. June 6.

Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Willow Creek nurse charged with sexual assault of minor patients