SAN DIEGO — After hearing five and a half days of testimony and viewing videotapes, a judge Aug. 8 ordered two gay male ex-nurses to stand trial for felony elder abuse in the way they cared for a then-98-year-old grandmother who could not speak and was mostly paralyzed from a stroke.
The family of the grandmother had hidden security cameras installed in her La Jolla home and they were shocked when they discovered the male nurses were engaging in oral sex and fondling each other in front of her. Videos of several scenes were played during the preliminary hearing.
The licenses of both registered nurses, Russell Olvena Torralba, 42, and Alfredo Villagarcia Ruiz, also 42, were revoked in July, 2013, by the state and they are no longer caring for patients.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Lorna Alksne said the behavior in the videos was “shocking to the court that this conduct was being done in front of the elderly woman.” Alksne called the conduct unprofessional, and “a complete disregard for the role of (what) nurses (should do.)”
However, Alksne dismissed a felony charge against both men that alleged they molested the grandmother. Alksne said Ruiz kissed her on the forehead while Torralba was touching him, but the “picture was obscured” at one point.
One man touched the woman’s arm while being fondled, but the judge said she did not believe the men committed a lewd act with the grandmother.
It was alleged that Ruiz may have positioned his penis in the grandmother’s hand, but the judge found this probably did not happen.
Ruiz’s back was to the camera at that moment and Alksne said it could not be determined if there was anything sexual toward the grandmother. She said Ruiz may have been trying to help the woman in some way.
“Maybe it’s good we have no audio,” said Alksne, who added that the nurses appeared to be giggling and trying to get the grandmother’s attention.
Alksne also ordered Torralba and Ruiz to stand trial for seven and two counts respectively of elder abuse of other patients in a now-closed Mira Mesa board and care facility in 2010. Torralba owned the facility at the time.
“This was a case needed to be heard by a judge,” said Deputy District Attorney Paul Greenwood afterwards.
Greenwood said he would not re-file the dismissed molestation charge, considering the long preliminary hearing which began July 30 and ended Aug. 8. “The judge showed extraordinary patience,” said Greenwood.
The prosecutor said both men face six years in prison if convicted of elder abuse of the grandmother and other patients. A trial date will be set on Aug. 21. Both remain free on $200,000 bond each and they have pleaded not guilty.
Torralba left San Diego and was arrested Jan. 13 in Vancouver, Canada, where he was working as a nurse in a home with a 7-year-old boy who was developmentally handicapped. He was extradited here, but posted bond and retained an attorney who argued for dismissal of the charges.
Somehow, the videos were leaked on the Internet, and there are at least six Web sites that display the images with the grandmother’s face tiled out.
The grandmother was seen moving her left arm while Torralba performed oral sex on Ruiz in a chair. She is now 101 years old.
“You could see she was in distress all along,” said the grandmother’s daughter, saying her left arm hitting the bed showed she was upset.
Her grandson, Eduardo Deicas, testified his grandmother would display her “eyes wide open” to indicate she was upset and other non-verbal means of communication. Deicas said the family was shocked when they viewed the videotapes in 2011.
Deicas said his grandmother used glasses to read. Deicas said the family filed a lawsuit against the firm which used to employ Torralba and Ruiz.
The woman’s daughter testified she walked in her mother’s room and found Ruiz sitting close to Torralba with his bare feet in Torralba’s lap. Immediately, both men stood up and Torralba said he was giving Ruiz “range of motion exercises.”
Investigator Donald Continelli testified he analyzed 13 hours of videotapes and could not find any such exercise. He said the nurses were spending about 80 percent of their time either touching each other, watching TV, sleeping, or doing other activities not related to caring for the grandmother.
A doctor testified he examined patients at Torralba’s board and care facility and called an ambulance for two patients, saying they needed medical attention and a skilled nursing center.
The first witness, Laura Bennett, was a former registered nurse herself, but came to live at Torralba’s facility after developing multiple sclerosis. She testified from her wheelchair and recalled she told Torralba two patients needed to be in a skilled nursing facility, but “he told me it wasn’t any of my business.”
Bennett said other workers lacked medical training and frequently asked her to explain symptoms of illnesses. She identified Ruiz as “Russell’s partner” who sometimes helped out at the facility.
