JAMAICA, Queens (PIX11) -- The survivor of a sex crime at the hands of a physician's assistant in an exam room said she had to speak out about it both as a possible warning to others and as an expression of frustration over the fact that he may still be in practice.
PIX11 News offered to protect the identity of Shanair Hogan, 41, because she's survived a sex crime, but she said that she wants to be seen and heard in the wake of what happened.
She reported being violated, which led to the arrest of Cecil Dollison, 72, a physician’s assistant at Hogan’s local urgent care center, AG Urgent Care, in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
“I thought I was safe, I thought I was safe, I thought I was safe,” said Hogan. “And yes, I am mad at myself,” she continued, with tears streaming down her face, “because I could not get off the table.”
She’d had a pelvic exam at the facility, on Broadway, near Ralph Avenue, in March of last year. She'd had similar exams before, but previously, the facility had a female staffer present in the exam room during visits. That was not the case the last time. Hogan said that Dollison, the physician's assistant, took advantage of that in a way that's left her permanently impacted.
Because of that, she said, she was compelled to speak out.
"I can't carry that," she said. "I have two daughters that I have to raise, a 25-year-old and a five-year-old. I have cousins, I have nieces, I have sisters."
Shortly after the incident, Hogan went to another medical facility and reported the assault. NYPD sex crimes investigators then took on the case and arrested Dollison a month later. In criminal court, he pled guilty to forcible touching.
The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office confirmed that Dollison agreed to do a year of sex offender training, which will reduce his charge -- a misdemeanor -- to a violation, a lesser charge.
Hogan said that the experience left her with major trauma and that the details of the encounter continue to haunt her.
"He said, 'Well, sometimes guys don't know that it takes other ways to satisfy a woman,'" she recounted.
Dollison's attorney, John Michael Rodriguez, declined to be formally interviewed, but said by phone that his client is an honorably discharged Army veteran, with no prior allegations against him. The lawyer also said that Dollison has provided medical services to underserved communities for 40 years.
The medical facility, AG Urgent Care, has not responded to numerous requests for comment regarding this case.
Meanwhile, the woman who survived the encounter is speaking out, and so is the non-profit she works for. It's called King of Kings. It's a community activist group based in Jamaica, Queens, that's been recognized widely -- from the White House to the Statehouse, to City Hall -- for its work in violence prevention and other advocacy work.
Dozens of people from King to Kings showed up at Brooklyn Criminal Court when Dollison's case was heard earlier this month.
Rana Epps, a regional manager at King of Kings, said that she and so many others had gone to court not only to show support for Hogan but to also further carry out the organization's mission of helping people overcome trauma. King of Kings' actions were also meant to send a message, Epps said.
"We can't speak to what could possibly have happened to others," said Epps, "but I think that what was important was that [Hogan said] what happened to her so that others could learn from it."
Other patients might hear Hogan's story, Epps said, and think, "If it happened to her, it happened to me, she spoke about it, I should speak about it, too."
When PIX11 News went to the AG Urgent Care earlier this month, Dollison's business card was still at the front desk. The urgent care company wouldn't confirm if he's still working at the facility.
Whether or not Dollison is still practicing, Shanair Hogan said that she chose to fight her fears and come forward, as a way to connect with and warn others.
"I was scared," Hogan said, in tears, but added that she's concerned that she's not the only person who's been violated. "If he could have done that to me," she said, "What could he have done more?"
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