Saturday, October 27, 2007

Nursing Assistant pleads no contest to rape

A former nursing assaitant who pleaded guilty to rape of a paralyzed stroke victim will go to jail for at least 8.5 years, and perhaps life. Lamin Darboe, 40, entered an Alford plea Friday to a count of 2nd degree rape at the King County (WA) Superior court. An Alford plea means the defendat does not admit guilt but acknowledges enough evidence in there for a conviction. It's used to avoid an admission of guilt when defending civil lawsuits.

The Seattle Times reports:

Because he's been convicted of a violent sexual assault, Darboe falls under the jurisdiction of the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board, which must agree that Darboe is not at risk of committing other sexual assaults before he can be released, said Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tim Leary. At a minimum, he will be incarcerated for eight-and-a-half years before he is eligible to come before the review board.

With the conviction, as well as accusations by others who say Darboe had inappropriate contact with them, he could spend the rest of his life in prison, Leary said.

Darboe's plea came before his second trial on the charge. His first trial ended in a mistrial in July after jurors couldn't agree on a verdict. King County prosecutors decided a short time later to retry him.

The paper goes on to say:

According to charging papers, Darboe was working at Kindred Hospital in North Seattle in the summer of 2006 when he fondled and raped a 31-year-old woman who was paralyzed and couldn't speak as the result of a stroke. The woman used an alphabet board to tell authorities about the rape, according to charging documents. After the rape was reported, Kindred officials placed Darboe on administrative leave.

During Darboe's first trial, jurors were not allowed to hear information about two young female patients who said Darboe had inappropriate contact with them when he was a nursing aide at Swedish Medical Center. Swedish fired him in June 2002.

After prosecutors asked the court to allow testimony from the two victims mentioned above plus a 3rd victim who alleged Darboe molested her while giving her a bath back in 2001, his defense attorney Gene Picuell said.

Darboe was acquitted of 2nd degree rape in Snohomish County in 2002.

Reference:

Guilty plea entered in rape

No comments: