SIMI VALLEY : Aide Says His Actions Were Misinterpreted

A male nurse’s aide charged with molesting three female patients at Simi Valley Hospital told jurors Wednesday that his actions were misinterpreted by the alleged victims, who might have been confused because they were on medication.

Victor Sumner, 47, also told the jury during a statement opening his Superior Court trial that he is being discriminated against because female patients do not like men to care for them.

“A nursing assistant works directly on a patient’s body, whether that patient is male or female,” Sumner said.

Sumner, who is acting as his own attorney, is charged with sexually battering two elderly women while they were institutionalized. He also faces a third felony count of sexually penetrating a 31-year-old mentally disabled person with his finger.

The alleged incidents occurred July 9, Sumner’s first day as a temporary hospital employee.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrice D. Koenig told jurors that Sumner was assigned to care for nine patients and molested two of them: a 72-year-old woman with a fractured hip and a 73-year-old woman who was seriously ill following heart bypass surgery months before.

One of the women thought that Sumner was touching her on doctor’s orders and did not report it until she heard another patient complain, Koenig said.

Sumner was found in the mentally disabled patient’s hospital room twice and was sent away because the woman’s family had specifically requested that she not be cared for by men, the prosecutor said.

Sumner said he went to the patient’s room to answer her call light. He said he did not know that male attendants were not to care for the woman, whom he described as a flirt who was lonely and wanted to talk.

“The defendant is the unfortunate victim of sexual, gender and racial prejudice,” he said. “I am not guilty.”