Nursing assistant gets 30 to life in prison in 2008 attacks

A certified nursing assistant was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison Wednesday in connection with the sexual assault and victimization of five female patients at Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center.

One victim, now 40, told Clark County District Judge Carolyn Ellsworth before sentencing that she still fears entering hospitals.

After she was assaulted, she said, “I was in a dark place. I wanted to die. … When I see (Farmer) I see a monster.”

Since the attack, she said that her 17-year marriage fell apart and that she is still struggling to recover from the trauma of the experience.

Before he was sentenced on 13 counts, including sexual assault and indecent exposure, stemming from attacks in 2008, Steven Farmer, 62, a Santa Claus look-alike with a reputation for being an attentive caretaker, maintained his innocence.

“I don’t believe I got a lengthy defense,” he told the judge. “There’s really nothing I can say today that’s going to change your mind.”

In February, after a four-week trial, a Clark County jury found Farmer guilty of four counts of sexual assault, a felony. Ellsworth sentenced Farmer to consecutive terms of life in prison for each case, with the possibility of parole, and credited him with six years served while awaiting trial.

Jurors found that Farmer sexually assaulted two women who sought treatment after suffering seizures and also convicted him of indecent exposure and multiple counts of open or gross lewdness for his behavior with three other patients.

Another sexual assault victim committed suicide last year, and jurors watched her videotaped testimony at trial.

In the deposition, she said she was “scared,” “embarrassed” and “ashamed.” She testified that lingering effects of a seizure prevented her from moving or speaking while Farmer sexually assaulted her at Centennial Hills.

“These people will live with this forever, with this fear that this could happen to them again,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Bluth said of the surviving victims.

The judge on Wednesday also ordered Farmer to serve nine concurrent 12-month sentences on the charges of indecent exposure and open or gross lewdness.

Bluth called Farmer’s acts “well thought-out and intentional” and suggested the assaults were more troublesome than when the victim does not know her attacker.

“This is a place, a hospital, where victims are supposed to go to get help and to be safe,” Bluth said. “They aren’t supposed to get raped.”

Defense attorney Jeff Maningo said that Farmer had maintained his innocence since allegations were filed.

“I hope the jury got it right,” Maningo said. “Because otherwise we have a potentially innocent man that’s going to prison.”

Farmer has been in custody since May 2008. During the trial, witnesses remembered Farmer as a nursing aide with white hair and a white beard who often talked about his Santa Claus resemblance.

He would not be eligible for parole for at least 24 years.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson, who sat in court during some of the trial but was not at the sentencing, called it “an appropriate sentence for the conduct of this defendant.”

The victim who testified during the sentencing said she was happy with the judge’s decision.

“I thought he’d be a little bit more remorseful,” she said, “but I guess a monster never has remorse.”

Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker