10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, October 7, 2008
SAN BERNARDINO - A fired Patton State Hospital employee was re-arrested Tuesday after a judge rejected a plea agreement involving a lewd act with a transgender patient under his care.
Daniel Ilesanmi Alawoya, 58, was released on his own recognizance Aug. 26 after he struck a plea agreement in San Bernardino County Superior Court, records show.
Alawoya agreed to a sentence that included three years probation, 295 days in county jail and registration as a sexual offender.
Alawoya, a native of Nigeria, was told his conviction would result in his deportation.
On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Michael Dest rejected the plea agreement when Alawoya appeared for sentencing. He did not explain why before setting bail at $1 million.
Outside the courtroom, defense attorney Rajan Maline said that delaying the sentencing gives Alawoya more time to fight deportation.
If the sentencing had gone through on Tuesday, federal immigration officials would have taken Alawoya into custody and immediately started deportation proceedings, Maline said.
Deputy District Attorney Melinda Spencer said she expects the case to settle on Oct. 23, when Alawoya will return to court. She declined to comment further.
Alawoya was a pre-licensed psychiatric technician at the Highland hospital who had a work visa, a California Department of Mental Health memo said.
Alawoya, who has a wife and six children in Nigeria, was fired after being arrested on March 25, the memo said. He is charged with criminal threats, lewd act on a dependent adult, sodomy by force and forced oral copulation, court records show.
Attorney Ronald Powell negotiated the plea Alawoya accepted last month.
The attorney said the sexual encounter was consensual and did not involve force.
Reach John F. Berry at 909-806-3058 or jberry@PE.com
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