Filipino nurses Russel Torralba and Alfredo Ruiz were sentenced to one year imprisonment after engaging in sex acts while on duty on their then 98-year-old patient. They were immediately handcuffed and taken into custody after the hearing.
According to the victim’s lawyer William Berman, the two nurses were not even apologetic for what they did.
“There was never a true recognition that they had done something wrong to the individual,” he said, adding that through the course of the hearing, the nurses never apologized to the victim and her family.
The Filipino nurses’ attorneys, however, claimed that their clients were sorry for the lewd acts.
In 2011, the two nurses were seen to have engaged in sex acts in front of their patient. These were found out through the patient’s home surveillance camera.
“The video itself is quite disturbing but there are parts of the video clip where you can actually see her raising her hand as if to say enough or stop,” Berman said.
The 43-year-old Filipino nurses were then charged of inflicting mental suffering to an elderly. They both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to the maximum amount of jail time for the acts. They were also placed in a five-year probationary period.
Despite the positive outcome of the case, Berman was still not satisfied and believed that justice was not fully served.
“On the one hand, my clients are happy that these individuals received the maximum amount of time per our laws but they’re disappointed that the laws don’t provide for stiffer penalties for acts of abuse or neglect of our elderly,” he said.
Berman still believed that other Filipino caregivers and nurses do well in their profession. However, he reminded them not to neglect or abuse their patients.