Two gay ex-nurses were sentenced Tuesday to 325 and 365 days in jail respectively for elder abuse of a grandmother they had been hired to care for but were spotted having sex with each other on hidden camera footage.
Russell Olvera Torralba, 43, and Alfredo Villagarcia Ruiz, 43, had been free on $200,000 bond, but both were 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.
Torralba received one year in jail, while Ruiz was sentenced to 325 days in jail. Walsh put both ex-nurses on five years’ probation. Walsh gave Torralba credit for 273 days and Ruiz 20 days in jail.
Late Tuesday, the sheriff’s department said Torralba will be released June 27 and Ruiz Oct. 12 because of their previous jail credits.
Both men were hired by the family of a 98-year-old grandmother to care for her in her own La Jolla 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 sexual activities 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.
“For two individuals to come to anyone’s home, more specifically into the privacy of their bedroom and persistently masturbate and fondle each other in front of someone who is unable to defend themselves is beyond my comprehension,” said Diecas.
“How dare you come into my grandmother’s home and disrespect her as you did?” asked the patient’s granddaughter angrily to 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 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.
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.
