Ex-Nurse Gets 2 ½ Years For Molesting Patient

ALEXANDRIA, La. (AP) — A former registered nurse has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for the sexual battery of a male patient who was sedated after an emergency appendectomy.

The Town Talk reports (http://townta.lk/KURz18 ) that Phillip Raines was sentenced Friday.

At the sentencing, state district Judge Thomas Yeager said Raines, 47, married and the father of four, will serve the time in jail at hard labor without the possibility of parole or probation. The judge also admonished officials at Raines' former employer, Rapides Regional Medical Center of Alexandria, saying the hospital delayed calling police on the morning of the assault and didn't fully cooperate in the initial investigation.

Raines was convicted April 19 by a six-person jury in a unanimous decision that took less than an hour.

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Information from: Alexandria Daily Town Talk, http://www.thetowntalk.com