SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- A woman in her 60s claims she is a victim of a dental assistant accused of molesting several women while they were under anesthesia at a San Diego dental clinic.
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During an exclusive interview with 10News, the woman cried and put her hand to her face over and over.
10News is not revealing her identity because she is an alleged sexual assault victim.
She said, through an interpreter, it was difficult to come forward.
She doesn’t feel at peace and said she’s very embarrassed.
She is one of the 13 women dental assistant Luis Ramos, 36, is accused of sexually assaulting under anesthesia at Park Blvd. Oral Surgery.
RELATED: Prosecutor: Accused dental assistant may have more victims
When she woke up from her dental surgery on January 21, she said Ramos was touching her chest. She said she asked him what he was doing and he told her he was cleaning up blood.
She is the fourth patient to file a civil lawsuit against Park Blvd. Oral Surgery, the staff and Dr. Steven Podstreleny, Ramos’ employer.
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The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges the woman watched Ramos on surveillance video doing much more than she was aware of: touching her private parts before she woke up.
Now she can’t eat, can’t sleep, and doesn’t leave her house, a relative said.
“It’s very embarrassing to have to come forward and to tell your story,” she said. “It’s not fair what he’s doing."
Why is she embarrassed when she did nothing wrong?
“Because she’s an older woman and she’d never thought that at this age this would happen to her… he told her he was only cleaning blood off of her,” her interpreter said.
Her lawsuit has a laundry-list of allegations, including:
“Park Center was given notice by prior patients that Ramos acted sexually inappropriate toward patients but did nothing.”
RELATED: Patient: Clinic ignored warning about dental assistant
"It is currently unknown whether Park Center failed to review the security camera footage to supervise Ramos or if the misdeeds were purposefully recorded,” the lawsuit states.
RELATED: Dentist: No complaints about accused tech before arrest
“She knows that there are other victims out there, and she knows that it’s very hard, very difficult, very embarrassing to come forward. But [she urges] them to come forward to have their story heard,” her interpreter said.
