Genetic test leads to charges for jail nurse

By Jim Haley

Herald Writer

A male Snohomish County Jail nurse, who has been under investigation for more than a year, was charged Thursday with having sexual contact with a female inmate.

Paul Daniel Wentland, 55, of Oak Harbor faces two felony counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct.

Wentland has been on paid administrative leave since the jail and Everett police began an investigation 17 months ago, said George Hughes, corrections administrative officer. Recently received genetic test results led to the charges, prosecutors said.

And it was a letter sent by the then 29-year-old victim that started the investigation on Dec. 31, 2000.

The mail was sent to a friend of the victim but was returned to the jail for insufficient postage. Custodial officers intercepted the letter and found a red plastic bag containing a fluid. The bag is one that is readily available in the jail for disposal of tampons and feminine hygiene pads.

The woman’s letter said the fluid was semen, and she asked her friend to freeze it. According to court documents, the victim said she had been sexually assaulted in the jail, but did not identify the assailant.

While custodial officers were discussing the unusual find, Wentland reportedly walked into an office and threw the red bag into a trash can. He told the officers "he was merely throwing away trash," documents say.

When ordered to retrieve it because it was evidence, "it took Wentland an inordinately long time" to get it, documents say.

Deputy prosecutor John Stansell said in documents that the bag and its contents were sent to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, where a scientist identified DNA from a man and a woman.

Blood samples were obtained by search warrants from the victim and Wentland. They were compared with the DNA results, which determined that fluids in the bag almost certainly belonged to the victim and the defendant.

According to the police investigation, Wentland is accused of offering the woman drugs for her anxiety attacks in exchange for oral sex beginning in October 2000. Documents say he brought pills only a couple of times but conducted sexual forays a half-dozen times.

The woman apparently became upset that he failed to fulfill his promise of bringing the medication. She told investigators she believed the nurse was "taking advantage of her vulnerability, and that what he was doing to her is wrong," documents say.

So, on the last occasion, she spit into a red bag after the act and mailed it to the friend. She asked him to freeze it so she could report what happened.

If convicted, the charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, but state sentencing guidelines recommend punishment of between six months and a year in jail.

You can call Herald Writer Jim Haley at 425-339-3447

or send e-mail to haley@heraldnet.com.

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