An arrest warrant obtained this week highlights new details in the sexual assault allegations against a nurse at a Sandy Springs medical center.
Michael Morgan, 33, turned himself in on May 12. He faces charges of sexual battery and sexual assault for allegedly groping at least two women at the center while they were under anesthesia.
Channel 2 Action News obtained the warrant for Morgan and interviewed some of his neighbors in Adairsville. Morgan remains in Fulton County jail.
The warrant says Morgan admitted to taking a “used plunger of Propofol” from a medical trash pile, adding a saline flush to the Propofol plunger so he could keep a woman under sedation while he fondled her at the Northern Crescent Endoscopy Center in Sandy Springs.
Propofol is an anesthetic that can cause relaxation and sleepiness, meant to be used before and during surgeries and other medical procedures. An overdose of the drug is what led to the death of pop star Michael Jackson in 2009.
INITIAL REPORT: Pastors turned Morgan into police
“It’s just really hard to swallow. (It’s) out of character. (I’m) really disappointed in Michael’s behavior,” Timothy Hicks, a neighbor of Morgan’s, told Channel 2. “These allegations are just … It’s hard to swallow. Michael was just a very, very nice guy and It’s just very troubling to hear that this is all coming out.”
Police told Channel 2 that it was Morgan’s own pastors from a Jehovah’s Witness Hall who turned him in after he confided in them. The alleged assaults took place between February and April of this year, police said.
Police said at least two women were groped by Morgan when they were under anesthesia.
“That’s hurting somebody, whether they’re conscious or not, so that’s a messed up thing to do,” Kyle Hendrix, another neighbor of Morgan’s, told Channel 2. “I just hope that his family and everything, that they aren’t too affected by it, because obviously they didn’t do anything.”
A preliminary hearing is set for Morgan on Friday at 9:30 a.m.
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