The 48-year-old woman victim was admitted to Virginia Mason with a life-threatening leg infection, she was on pain medication and vulnerable.

Police say that's when registered sex offender Raymond Kupfer attacked.

It happened last month. Kupfer, the orderly, was wheeling the patient to and from a CT scan on a gurney. According to court documents, the victim says Kupfer fondled her breasts on the way to the procedure, and then sexually assaulted her when he moved her back onto her hospital bed.

Kupfer's roommate Steve Higginbotham doesn't believe the charges. "I mean it's just ridiculous, I know deep down inside that he did absolutely none of this."

But Higginbotham also didn't know Kupfer is a level three sex offender. Kupfer's extensive criminal history includes convictions for child molestation, burglary and failing to register as a sex offender. But he is now currently listed on King County's sex offender Web site, visible to anyone who wants to check.

So how did he get a job as an orderly at Virginia Mason dealing with vulnerable patients?

"We are disappointed that the allegation has occurred," says Senior Vice President Sarah Patterson. "We take it very seriously and we're working to ensure that it doesn't happen again."

Virginia Mason says it runs criminal background checks on all its employees. But Kupfer was actually employed by Crothall Healthcare headquartered in Pennsylvania. Crothall did not return our phone calls, but according to its Web site, it provides various services to hospitals including orderlies to move patients to and from their rooms.

Virginia Mason also requires subcontractors to perform criminal checks on employees, but couldn't tell us how Kupfer fell through the cracks.

"Patient safety is a top priority and one of the reasons we were willing to talk here today is because we consider it our top priority," says Patterson. "And we need to do whatever we need to do to ensure that our patients are safe."

After this incident, Virginia Mason had Crothall go through its list of employees that work here and make sure they had criminal background checks. Three more employees were fired.

Kupfer is currently held in the King County Jail in lieu of $250,000 cash bond. He is charged with second-degree rape.