Former patients describe disturbing encounters with hospital worker accused of assault
Two women testified Thursday about disturbing encounters they had with a certified nursing assistant in 2008 at Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center.
The assistant, Steven Farmer, is accused of victimizing five female patients at the hospital that year.
One of those women, who is now 41, said she was taken to the hospital in April 2008 after trying to kill herself. She said two aunts were visiting when Farmer entered the room and stood at the end of her bed.
“He began to move his body in a circular motion — the groin area — on my feet,” she told jurors.
Another woman, who is now 48, said she was taken to the hospital in May 2008 after suffering chest pains.
She said Farmer entered her room, opened the front of her hospital gown and began to press on patches that attached electrocardiogram leads to her chest and abdomen. She recalled his arm brushing against one of her breasts.
A registered nurse, who had checked on the patient minutes earlier, witnessed the incident from outside the room and reported it to her supervisor. She later reported it to police.
During Farmer’s trial, prosecutors have presented testimony from four former patients, including one who testified Tuesday that Farmer had sexually assaulted her. Another woman who accused Farmer of sexual assault killed herself last year, and prosecutors are expected to show a videotape of her testimony to jurors next week.
The former patient who testified Tuesday said she was recovering from a seizure when Farmer sexually assaulted her with his fingers, squeezed her breasts and performed oral sex on her.
Emily Jeskie, a forensic DNA analyst with a private lab in Utah, said testing done on a small amount of DNA found on the woman’s face was inconclusive, but it was consistent with Farmer’s DNA.
The analyst said DNA found on the woman’s thigh came from two different men, but the amount was insufficient to identify the sources. Unidentified male DNA also was found in the woman’s vaginal area.
Farmer, 61, has been in custody since his arrest in May 2008.
Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Follow @CarriGeer on Twitter.
