Jessica Lynch's Rescue Soldier Accused of Sex Assault

Former Air Force reservist occused of sexual assault on hospital patients.

ByABC News
October 14, 2011, 10:57 AM

Oct. 14, 2011— -- A male nurse who helped rescue soldier Jessica Lynch from Iraq in 2003 was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual battery against hospital patients in Florida.

Shean Galvin, 49, a former Air Force Reserves captain, was the flight nurse and medical director on the evacuation flight of Lynch, who was captured by Iraqi soldiers in March 2003. He appeared with fellow soldiers on ABC's Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson shortly after the evacuation, telling them how the rescue mission went.

On Oct. 12, Galvin was arrested following investigations into his conduct at Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, Fla., where he was a nurse. Galvin allegedly assaulted two female patients he was treating.

According to an affadavit by the Kissimmee police department, Galvin treated a female patient who arrived with a back injury by administering pain medicine through an IV and then asking if he could touch the woman's breasts. The woman said she felt obligated to comply so that she could get her pain medication. Galvin then allegedly moved her to a darker room and forced her to perform oral sex on him before releasing her from the hospital.

In a second affidavit, Galvin is charged with inappropriately touching a patient who came in to be treated for an infection. After administering two shots of medicine to the woman's buttocks, Galving allegedly returned to the patient's room and demanded she pull her pants down so he could perform a rectal examination. He allegely then penetrated her without wearing a glove.

Galvin also called the first victim, whom he allegedly forced into oral sex, and asked her to meet him again. She did not return the call, according to the documents.

In 2003, Galvin accompanied Lynch and two other air force personnel in airlifting Lynch from a hospital in Iraq where she was being held captive. Lynch, who had been wounded and captured in the early days of the war, was flown to Germany and eventually brought to the U.S. Galvin told GMA's Sawyer and Gibson that Lynch was sedated for most of the flight, and that she smiled when they transferred her to an ambulance in Germany.

Galvin was released on $20,000 bail and faces 30 years in prison if convicted.