A Duluth detox center has been faulted by state regulators after an intoxicated female patient was kept naked in a seclusion room for an hour-and-a-half after she had sex with another patient in the center's bathroom.

The Duluth Detoxification Center, a 24-bed facility that treats about 3,500 patients a year, has been cited for emotional abuse and neglect for the incident, and for another case of physical abuse, which occurred at the facility since last summer, according to a state investigative report released Monday.

Last June, staff members at the Duluth center placed two patients in separate seclusion rooms after they were discovered having sex in a bathroom stall. Staff members then removed clothing from one of the patients after she removed her shirt and tied it around her neck.

The woman, who was admitted with a blood alcohol level of 0.265 percent, was naked and visible to anyone who passed by the live stream camera monitors at the staff desk, state investigators found.

Another staff member "gasped" after she saw the female patient "naked and passed out" on a camera monitor behind the staff desk; she asked if the woman "should be covered up." The staffer was told that the woman's clothing had been removed to prevent self-harm, state investigators found.

"Having one's clothing removed, and being on camera in front of staff persons and others for any period of time would be considered by a reasonable person to be derogatory or humiliating and could reasonably be expected to produce emotional distress," the Minnesota Department of Human Services wrote in its report.

The citation comes as state regulators intensify efforts to stamp out the use of restraints and seclusion of vulnerable adults, following reports of their widespread misuse in state-licensed facilities. Isolating people in seclusion rooms is still allowed, but only in extreme cases when someone is at risk of imminent harm.

Gary Olson, chief executive of the Duluth detox center, which opened in 1972, said the incident was "completely unacceptable" and the facility is now considering plans to close its two padded seclusion rooms. The facility may also start sending more of its acute, suicidal patients to area hospitals instead of attempting to treat them at the center, he said.

State officials also cited the center for neglect in a January incident involving a patient who refused give up a personal cellphone. The patient sustained scratches on the hands and arms after two staff members forcibly restrained the patient, while another removed the phone. State officials determined that the use of physical force was unnecessary, given that the patient was not in danger of harming anyone.

The identities of the patients and staff members involved in the abuse were not identified in the report. The Duluth detox center was ordered to pay fines totaling $3,000 for the incidents of maltreatment.

Chris Serres • 612-673-4308

Twitter: @chrisserres