An upstate New York anesthesiologist has pleaded guilty to drugging and sexually assaulting his family’s nanny while she slept on a couch in his home, authorities said.
Paul Giacopelli, 60, pleaded guilty Wednesday after being indicted by a grand jury in March.
He was arrested in December after the woman, whose name was not released, installed a surveillance camera behind the dehumidifier of a turtle tank in the living room where he slept. Investigators said she became suspicious after four occasions in late 2023 in which he briefly woke up with a rag on his face before smelling chemicals and passing out.
Giacopelli’s attorney, Steven Gaitman, said his client “has taken responsibility for his crimes and is now focused on taking care of his family.”
The plea deal marks a rapid fall from grace for a man who once worked as chief of anesthesiology at Putnam County Hospital. Since having his credentials stripped, he also confessed to having a “chloroform fetish,” police confirmed.
Paul Giacopelli, 60, pleaded guilty Wednesday after being indicted by a grand jury in March. He is pictured with an unidentified family member.
The former anesthesiologist confessed to drugging and sexually abusing his family’s nanny while she slept on a couch in his home. His medical license has been revoked
“I am very proud of the work of the Sheriff’s Department and Deputy District Attorney Melissa Lynch,” Putnam District Attorney Robert Tendy said in a news release revealing the defendant’s remarks.
“But what I am most proud of is the courage of the victim in going through this process that led to the arrest and conviction of the defendant.”
The guilty pleas involved two violent felonies, first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree assault, and, Tendy said, came after a thorough investigation.
According to court documents, the victim told investigators she had been assigned to care for Giacopelli’s children at his home in the town of Southeast in Putnam County.
Sometimes, employment conditions required her to work overnight, she said, often when Giacopelli was on call at the local hospital.
Suspecting that she was being drugged to make her sleep more deeply, installed a hidden camera on Dec. 29, 2023, according to the defendant’s indictment.
After feeling a cloth on her face again before passing out, she woke up in the morning and looked at the contents of the camera in the hope of catching her attacker.
Videos captured on camera show Giacopelli assaulting the victim, prosecutors said, recalling how officers carried out his arrest in a matter of hours.
The plea deal marks a rapid fall from grace for a man who once worked as chief anesthesiologist at Putnam County Hospital (seen here).
Since his credentials were taken away, he also confessed to having a “chloroform fetish,” according to police. After pleading guilty, he is expected to receive only four years in state prison.
The woman had previously handed the videos over to law enforcement officers.
When Giacopelli was brought in for initial questioning, a Putnam County Sheriff’s Office investigator told the grand jury that the doctor confessed to filling a rag with sevoflurane, an anesthetic, and covering the woman’s mouth and nose.
Giacopelli also told investigators the victim was an easy target because he was “deeply asleep,” lead investigator Keith Simone said.
Simone added that Giacopelli also admitted to bringing drugs home from the hospital, after dangerous substances such as Fentanyl were found in the family’s four-bedroom home, valued at $1 million, Simone testified.
The state Board of Professional Medical Conduct banned Giacopelli from practicing medicine, a decision that will stand after his guilty plea.
The verdict paves the way for the sentencing of the former medical professional, which according to court documents will take place on November 20.
After pleading guilty, he is expected to receive only four years in state prison, prosecutors said.
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