Pinoy nurse jailed 16 mos in UK for 'child' sex

Filipino nurse Oliver Balicao was jailed in Oxford on Saturday for having sex with a 16-year-old patient who was admitted at John Radcliffe Hospital in March last year for drug overdose. The 34-year-old father of two was given a 16-month jailterm even after the the Oxford Crown Court cleared him last month of raping the girl while she was still drowsy, The Sun reported. The teenage patient took a paracetamol overdose after being bullied at school. She claimed Balicao took advantage of her at the hospital’s lavatory for the disabled where he led her on the pretext of taking her urine sample. On his turn at the witness stand, Balicao admitted having sexual activity with the girl, but said she instigated it by hugging and kissing him. He told the jury he was ashamed of what he had done, but asserted that the sex was consensual. But Judge Anthony Hall considered the offense as “the grossest possible breach of trust." "By your actions you have brought a reputable hospital and a reputable profession into disrepute. You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself," the judge was quoted in a BBC News report as saying at the sentencing on Friday (Saturday in Manila). He added: "This was a young, vulnerable girl aged 16 who was ill and clearly in considerable mental turmoil who was in hospital so she could be cared for. "Instead you did exactly the opposite - for reasons that wholly escape me you went with her to the WC and there you had sexual intercourse with her." Balicao, who has taken residence in Bicester, Oxfordshire, had been placed on UK’s Sex Offenders' Register and barred from working with children. He was put on trial for one count of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust. He cannot be deported considering that he had become a British citizen in 2006. Balicao had been suspended from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford immediately after the incident on March 12. After the jury verdict of acquittal last December 13, Elaine Strachan-Hall, director for nursing and clinical leadership at the Oxford hospital, said Balicao will still be subject to “internal disciplinary proceedings." "Our hospitals have an international reputation for high quality clinical care and we expect the highest standard of behavior from our nurses," Strachan-Hall was quoted to have said, adding that Balicao’s behavior was “unacceptable for any nurse in any circumstances." – GMANews.TV