Bleyle was arrested in March 2006 after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents traced child porn Internet traffic to his home computer in suburban Santee. According to prosecutor Laura Gunn, Bleyle targeted children who were "the most brain-damaged, most comatose, most nonverbal — children who could never say anything about it." Last year, Bleyle had confessed to federal agents that he molested "countless" disabled patients.

Prosecutors accepted the plea of guilt, in part to spare one girl, a teenage stroke victim, from testifying before a jury. Says Gunn: "This is absolutely one of the worst child molestation situations imaginable."

Bleyle worked at the well-regarded hospital for 25 years, including 10 at the convalescent facility, and was considered by former colleagues as an engaging, hardworking therapist who volunteered for extra shifts, reassured parents and served as a mentor to new hires. Affidavits filed in support of search warrants indicate that investigators found images on Bleyle's computer and cell phone that he had created himself using children at the hospital. His arrest prompted the hospital to ban camera phones in the convalescent unit and require that curtains around patients be left open most of the time.

The story does not end here. Barely a month after Bleyle's arrest, another hospital employee was charged with molesting a comatose toddler patient after being traced through Internet file-sharing networks. Christopher Alan Irvin, a 32-year-old nurse at the time, pleaded guilty in September and was sentenced to 14 years and eight months in prison.

Source: Medindia
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