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Mihail Lujan, a Moldovan national, will be handed over to federal officials for deportation following his 10-to-12-year prison sentence, the Hampden District Attorney said in a news release.
Lujan was arrested in 2013 after a nurse found him inappropriately touching an elderly patient after they'd been put to bed. Doctors at Baystate Medical Center told police the patient showed signs of having been raped, the prosecutor said.
“Acts of violence and sexual assault on our most vulnerable citizens will be met with our most diligent efforts to protect them and punish those who commit these heinous acts," said Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni.
Despite a nurse catching him in the act, Lujan's trial has dragged out for a decade because the West Springfield Police Department allowed a Russian-speaking intern to act as an interpreter during Lujan's interrogation. Lujan spoke Moldovan, and an appellate court ruled that the interpreter made several mistakes in relaying what was being said. The judges ruled everything he'd told the interpreter was inadmissible in court, which caused the delay.
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