Former Adventist Health Nurse Accused of Child Molestation
10 January 2017 | A former Adventist Health nurse has been arrested after having been accused of molesting a 7-year-old girl. The molestation is alleged to have taken place a decade ago.
Tauney Lee Van Sickle, 31, is accused of molesting the child with her then boyfriend, Frank Sanchez.
Van Sickle was initially released from custody but was then arrested at Adventist Health Bakersfield where she was working as a nurse.
According to local news site Kern Golden Empire.com, court documents indicate that law enforcement “used a ruse and lied about having inappropriate photos and video of Van Sickle with the victim.”
Van Sickle said there were no photos or videos showing the alleged abuse. She did admit that a photo may exist of her kissing the then 7-year-old’s stomach.
Her attorney, Kyle Humphrey, has complained about law enforcement’s handling of his client.
“If you give someone the right answer and they tell you you’re wrong, and they’ve got a gun to your head and the fact that they can put a gun to your head later, you’re going to come up with answers,” Humphrey said to Kern Golden Empire.com. It was later clarified that he was metaphorically speaking to police interrogations in general.
He claimed that law enforcement procedures are designed to elicit statements from the accused that they would not make in other circumstances.
The court documents indicate that Frank Sanchez has admitted to police that he abused the 7-year-old. However, he refused to implicate Van Sickle.
Both defendants have entered not guilty pleas. Van Sickle will return to court on January 11.
Adventist Health Bakersfield is a 254-bed hospital in Bakersfield, California. It serves Kern County. It is part of the Adventist Health network of hospitals and other health facilities.