Male nurse accused in sex assault bails out, said he is supporting family

Jason Laurie, a Gardnerville man accused of drugging and sexually assaulting unconscious female patients, said Monday he bailed out of jail last week to take care of his family.

"I'm out so that I can support my family and get my life in order," the 28-year-old former Carson-Tahoe Hospital nurse said.

Laurie pleaded guilty to two counts of open and gross lewdness June 10. He pleaded not guilty to one felony count of sexual assault, four felony counts of administering a controlled substance to aid in the commission of violence, and five gross misdemeanor counts of open and gross lewdness.

A trial date of March 8, 2004 has been set.

Laurie posted a $125,000 property bond Wednesday, allowing him to go home for the first time since his Feb. 14 arrest.

One of seven victims -- the sole victim against whom the sexual assault charge applies and the first woman to call police -- said she is terrified the man she believed tried to kill her will come to finish the job.

Her name is not being published to protect her identity.

"I don't think it's fair that they let him out," she said "The police didn't notify me. They didn't ask me if I needed protection. "

According to her testimony in a preliminary hearing, the middle-aged mother said she was in the emergency room Feb. 13 with chest pains when a man she later identified as Laurie because he wore a ring symbolic of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave her a cup full of pills.

After taking the medication, the woman said, she was unable to move. When he whispered in her ear his intention molest her, she said, he was able to do so without resistance from her.

After she was violated, she said, she managed to pull herself from the observation ward bed and stumble along the hallway to look for help.

Unable to find anyone after making her way through some double doors, she said, she turned around and was confronted by the male nurse, who she believes injected her with another drug, making her unconscious.

"I thought he was trying to kill me. He just kept attacking me," she said tearfully Monday. "I am in danger from him being out there loose. My kids' lives are in danger. I was the one that put him in jail."

But Laurie said he has no intention of harming any of the women who claim he assaulted them.

"No matter how long I live on this earth, I have no desire to cause anyone any more -- any hurt," he said. "I just know there were many people who were very hysterical. There's nothing like a good media frenzy to get more people riled up."

Following reports of the woman's assault, six women came forward and claimed Laurie also assaulted them while they were being cared for in the emergency room.

"Why didn't the other women talk from the beginning?" the victim said. "If they'd had the courage to talk, this would have never happened to me. My family wouldn't have to be going through this."

She said she has flashbacks every day, and it's a rare day when she doesn't cry. Her children aren't used to seeing her so depressed, she said.

"They say, 'You're always sleeping, Mom. You're always in your room,'" she recalled. "And I apologize that I can't be a mommy like I used to be. He destroyed my life. He destroyed me spiritually."

Both Laurie and the victim are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said she finds no comfort in the church now.

"People don't understand what I am going through. I can't sleep, I can't eat and now that he's out on the street I am sure he is going to send someone to hurt me," she said. "I'm out here and my family is out here. I'm suffering. I'm worried. I don't know what he's capable of doing. He let the darkness take

him over."

Laurie said he was sure news articles contributed to any pain anyone was feeling.

"I just know there's a lot of people out there that would have been a lot better off if (the Nevada Appeal) hadn't printed every bit of drivel that came about," he said.

The woman said Laurie's continued denial makes her suffering greater.

"He wouldn't look at me in the preliminary. I wanted him to look at me and say 'Yes, I did it. I did it.' It would make me feel a lot better if he would just admit what he did. He took my rights as a human, as a woman," she said through sobs. "I'm tired. Sometimes I just feel like going to sleep and never waking up. Right now I'm going through hell."