Caretaker Who Sexually Abused Elderly Patient Sentenced In OC

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A nurse was scheduled to report to jail for a year next month for sexually assaulting an 87-year-old woman with dementia at a senior living facility in Santa Ana, according to court records obtained Monday.

Juan Sandoval, 35, of Orange, pleaded guilty Tuesday to assault with the intent to commit a sex offense and sexual battery on an institutional victim, both felonies. As part of a plea deal, a felony count of lewd act with a dependant adult by a caretaker was dismissed.

Sandoval was sentenced to 364 days in jail and ordered to participate in a sex offender program. He will be placed on six years of formal probation. Sandoval was given until Oct. 13 to report to jail.

Police were called to the Sunflower Gardens Senior Living Facility at 12:37 p.m. Feb. 25, 2021, regarding an allegation that a caretaker at the nursing home sexually assaulted a resident earlier that day, Santa Ana police said.

Sandoval took the woman down a hallway into a bedroom, where he sexually assaulted her. A co-worker walking by the room saw the attack through an open door and confronted Sandoval, who "got dressed" and left the room, investigators said.

The co-worker immediately alerted a supervisor. When officers arrived, Sandoval was still on the job and was arrested without incident, police said.