2 former Westmoreland County nurses plead guilty to taking and sharing inappropriate patient photos
Two Westmoreland County nurses pleaded guilty to taking and sharing inappropriate patient photos.
In a Westmoreland County courtroom, Peter Castellano and Melissa Tompkins admitted to exploiting their elderly patients.
"Today we accepted a negotiated plea deal," said Casey White, who represents Melissa Tompkins.
Tompkins and Castellano were charged in September last year. While working at Westmoreland Hospital, investigators said they took and shared explicit photos of at least eight patients.
White said the plea deal is Tompkins's way of taking accountability.
"From the start, she didn't understand the seriousness of her actions. Her actions were certainly immature and irresponsible and later found out they were in fact criminal. If she could take back what took place during that time frame, she certainly would," White said.
The plea includes 30 days in jail. Castellano declined to comment as he was being taken from the courthouse and into the police cruiser by sheriff's deputies.
Following the sentence, they'll both be on parole for some time.
White said his client is sorry and she expressed that in court.
"My client's hopeful that these families involved understand that she's remorseful. She'll live with this for the rest of her life. She lost her career. She lost a lot of friends," White said.
Castellano and Tompkins are no longer employees of Westmoreland Hospital. They were fired following this investigation.