FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – The woman who the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said was sexually abused by a former paramedic in an ambulance learned about the disturbing incident nearly three years later.
The woman, who we are not identifying, said she had no idea what happened to her until deputies came to her door.
James Melady was arrested on Thursday after he was accused of performing sexual acts in the back of an ambulance as the unconscious woman was being taken to the hospital in October 2021.
According to Melady’s arrest warrant, he recorded himself sexually abusing the woman on his phone.
“I found out two detectives came to my house,” the woman told News4JAX. “I was getting ready for work, and they sat me down and they said, ‘We don’t know how to tell you this, but you were assaulted in the back of an ambulance back in 2021 when you were being transported to a hospital.’”
The woman said the detectives came to her on Wednesday. She said they showed her parts of the video where she saw her tattoo, face and body lying on the gurney.
“I was mortified and devastated. I was completely unaware that any of this has happened, so I was in shock,” the woman said. “I don’t understand how someone could do that, and I don’t understand why no one else was in the back of the ambulance with him, and to know that he set up the camera in separate areas, like move the camera around.”
She said moving forward, it’s hard to trust a first responder.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get in an ambulance again unless I’m pregnant right now, so unless I have to go to the hospital because I’m having a baby,” she said. “But other than that, like unless I’m in a car accident or something, I will not voluntarily get into an ambulance ever again.”
Melady confessed to the crime to deputies. He is being held with no bond.
The woman hoped Melady would receive the maximum sentence.