Central DuPage Hospital nurse found guilty of tampering with patient's phone
A hospital nurse accused of sending a patient's sexually explicit photos and videos to himself has been found guilty of misdemeanor computer tampering.
But Mark Luis, of South Elgin, was found not guilty of a more serious charge, nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images, a felony.
DuPage County Circuit Court Judge Brian Telander found Luis not guilty on Aug. 28 of the nonconsensual dissemination charge and two counts of computer fraud. The state previously dropped prosecution of two other counts of computer fraud.
Luis can be sentenced to up to six months in jail. He could also receive probation, conditional discharge or court supervision. If he had been convicted of the felony, he could have been sentenced to up to three years in prison.
He is due to be sentenced Sept. 13.
Luis, a registered professional nurse, worked at Central DuPage Hospital's Behavioral Health Services unit in Winfield.
According to Assistant State's Attorney Bridget Carson's opening argument in November 2016, a female patient was at the hospital for outpatient treatment for substance abuse. The rules of the program prohibited patients from bringing cellphones into the treatment area. The patient's cellphone was stored in a medication room.
During a lunchtime break, Luis allowed the patient to use her cellphone to order a meal, as long as it was used in front of him. The patient believes Luis saw her punch in the phone's security code. The phone was returned to the medication room.
Later that night, the patient got a text from Luis' cellphone, but when she responded with "who is this," no one answered. She then looked on her computer, which was synced to her phone. When she entered Luis' number, she saw that 74 photos and videos had been sent to it, with a timestamp indicating it was done when she wasn't in possession of the phone.
Luis' attorney, William Gibbs, said in his opening argument that the time reported on the initial forensic examination of her cellphone was incorrect, throwing doubt on to exactly when the photos were sent. He also argued that the images weren't all that private, because the defendant had sent the photos to her ex-boyfriend.
Gibbs had argued in a pretrial motion that Luis sending images to himself shouldn't count as "dissemination."