An ex-nurse from Bonita was sentenced Tuesday to one year in jail for committing elder abuse when he engaged in sex acts with another male nurse in front of the patient.
Russell Olvera Torralba, 43, had been free on $200,000 bond, but was handcuffed and led to jail by sheriff’s deputies after San Diego Superior Court Judge Timothy Walsh denied his attorney’s request to surrender at a later date.
The other ex-nurse, Alfredo Ruiz, 43, of San Diego, was sentenced to 325 days in jail and also remanded to jail. Walsh put both ex-nurses on five years probation.
Both men were hired by the family of a 98-year-old grandmother to care for her in her own home. She had suffered a stroke and could not speak or move freely, and the patient’s grandchildren testified Tuesday how the discovery of the men’s sex acts in front of her affected the family.
Eduardo Diecas, the grandson, said his grandmother was in great distress, and they didn’t discover the reason until the family viewed the hidden security camera footage of her care. He told the judge the ex-nurses took advantage of a position of trust.
Diecas said the tape showed his grandmother’s “left arm flailing up and down” in bed to show her distress while the pair had oral sex or fondled each other. Though the incidents took place in 2011, she is now 102 years old and “she continues to be apprehensive,” said Diecas.
“How dare you come into my grandmother’s home and disrespect her as you did?” asked the patient’s granddaughter angrily of both men. “How dare you hold a nursing license? You’re a complete disgrace to your professions.”
The licenses for both men were revoked by the state on July 2, 2013. They both pleaded guilty to committing elder abuse, a felony, and Torralba also pleaded guilty to committing elder abuse to a male patient in a board and care facility he used to own. Torralba was given credit for serving 273 days in jail and Ruiz received credit for 20 days in jail.
Somehow the security camera footage ended up on the Internet with at least six web sites showing it. The grandmother’s face and the men’s sex acts were tiled out. Ruiz is shown to be wearing only a towel in one scene.
“We did everything we could to spare her from a nursing home. (She) is imprisoned in her own mind and body,” said the granddaughter. “They disrespected her beyond belief.”
Deputy District Attorney Paul Greenwood said the sad lesson of the case is for the installation of security cameras to view caregivers.
Walsh said “the damage inflicted is ongoing” to the family, including the patient’s daughter who was in the audience.
He said any elder deserves “respect and dignity.” He also rejected Torralba’s attorney’s request that he serve his sentence in work furlough.
Torralba was arrested in Canada in January 2014 where he had fled and was working as a live-in nurse to a developmentally disabled boy there. He posted bond and moved to Bonita. With the credits, Torralba will be released on June 27 and Ruiz on Oct. 12.
