Prosecutors: Nurse copied sexual images found on patient’s phone

A former nurse at a west suburban hospital found sexual photographs on a patient’s cellphone and illegally sent copies of those images to himself, according to prosecutors.

Mark Luis, 33, of the of 700 block of Waterside Drive in South Elgin, was ordered held on a $150,000 bond Friday after being charged with non-consensual dissemination of private sexual images, and computer tampering, both felonies, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

“The sickening behavior alleged against Mr. Luis in this case is just astounding,” State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the statement. “Going to the hospital can be a very stressful event and while there, patients should not have to worry about such a tremendous invasion of privacy, as is alleged in this case.”

Luis was working as a nurse at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield when the victim, a woman, was undergoing treatment there on Nov. 12, 2016, a statement from prosecutors said.

At some point, she entered her passcode and used her phone in front of Luis, who was able to obtain the code. Later, during a short period when the victim was not allowed to have her phone and it was left at a nurses’ station, “Luis removed the phone from the nurses’ station, entered the victim’s password and sent more than sixty images and six videos of the victim to his personal cellular phone.”

The photos were of a “sensitive, personal” nature, prosecutors said.

Later, the woman synced the phone to her ICloud account and “discovered that numerous photographs and videos were allegedly sent from her phone to a phone number that she did not know.”

Winfield police were called, and on April 19, an arrest warrant with a $200,000 bond was issued for Luis, who voluntarily turned himself in to sheriff’s police earlier Friday. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 8.

Berlin said the case “should serve as a reminder to people that when using your cell phone in public, be aware of your surroundings and take precautions to ensure no one can steal your password.”