The B.C. government had custody of the eight-year-old disabled boy who was left in the hands of a nurse wanted for sexual crimes in California, according to the nurse’s neighbours in south Vancouver.
Advocates say it’s outrageous that a boy with fetal alcohol syndrome could have been put in the care of Russel Torralba, and are demanding answers on how the Ministry of Children and Family Development could have allowed this to happen.
“It’s disturbing and shocking,” said Faith Bodnar of Inclusion B.C. “We need more rigourous background checks, given that a child with disabilities is more vulnerable.”
The B.C. government is refusing to confirm the child is in ministry care, and won’t comment on any aspect of the case, nor will representatives say who the contractor is that hired Torralba, citing privacy rules.
The boy started visiting the house on Marine Drive and Ontario St. in December for days at a time, and seemed well cared for, said neighbours who were shocked to hear about the charges he faces.
"That’s crazy that they were upstairs from me, that’s so shocking,” said Tara Smith, who lives in the basement suite.
Another woman, who sublet a room in the main floor suite that Torralba shared with another man named Mario, told CTV News that Torralba said the child was in foster care.
“He said that it was foster parenting. That they were going to take care of the child,” said Angelica Lopez, who said Torralba slept on the couch in the main room.
Torralba’s landlord, Gurcharan Atwal, said that Torralba was behind in rent by about $670. He had asked to renovate the bathroom to better bathe the child, he said. Atwal was unhappy the child was in the house without insurance to work, he said.
“If he wanted a patient here, that was a problem,” he told CTV News.
None of them knew that Torralba was wanted in California after being recorded by surveillance cameras some eight times in February and March 2011 masturbating and fondling another man while in a room with a 98-year-old stroke victim who could not move or speak, but was aware of what was happening.
California Board of Registered Nursing documents say that the patient was awake while the second nurse, Alfredo Ruiz, held her hand while Torralba held his genitals. On one day, she swatted his hand away, appearing to be distressed, the documents say.
According to the documents Torrabla admitted the truth of the allegations against him, though his lawyer at the time, Bob Frank, said that is common practice for someone who does not want to fight all the allegations against him in a hearing.
Torralba lost licence three times
The Board took Torrabla’s licence to practice nursing after the lewd incidents were caught on camera, but that wasn’t the only time he had been disciplined.
In San Diego in 2010, Torralba neglected to treat a wound of a 91-year-old patient, causing her horrible pain, the documents say. She and another patient were hospitalized and he lost his licence to operate a facility. Ruiz was also working at the same facility.
Torralba tried to work in Arizona in 2012, but authorities found he lied about his history in San Diego on his application, and rejected his licence. He drove to Canada in August, 2013 in a Mercedes that is still sitting in a parking space behind the Vancouver home.
Canadian border guards say they let him in the country because he was not yet wanted criminally. When U.S. Marshalls called them with a tip Torralba was in the country, the Canadian Border Services Agency arrested him on Thursday. They found him with the young boy, who was taken into ministry care.
It’s not clear how Torralba was hired to care for the boy. He is not a registered nurse in this province. The neighbours were unaware of who his employer was, though they said the boy was dropped off regularly in an SUV.
Contractors face little scrutiny
Bodnar said while the government can demand contractors live up to hiring standards, they are not always followed.
In one example, the B.C. Representative for Children and Youth investigated a case in Prince George where a contractor had locked a troubled young child in a “safe room” made of plywood or drywall to try and control the child’s behavior. No government rule allows “safe room” treatment.
During one outburst, the child stabbed a care worker, and then was tasered by police. A review by Northern Health found “staff members did not possess any formal education or background relating to the care of high-risk youth.”
The owner of the care home was a businessman, Jordie Hoover, who runs a chain of liquor stores and a bar. He did not return calls to CTV News during a story at the time.
A Ministry of Children and Family Development spokesperson e-mailed to say that all residential service providers must do a criminal record check, check qualifications, and if the qualifications aren’t met then the ministry will investigate.
Requests to speak with Children and Family Development Minister Stephanie Cadieux were not successful.
The office of B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth said they are not investigating the case because they have not formally been notified by the B.C. government.
