Former Murrieta Hospital Nurse Pleads Not Guilty to Sexual Battery, Lewd Acts

A Murrieta man and former Rancho Springs Medical Center nurse has pleaded not guilty to committing sexual battery and lewd acts on two female patients.

Paul Robert Simon, 53, pleaded not guilty to five felony counts during his arraignment held Thursday afternoon at Southwest Justice Center near Murrieta, court records show.

The sexual battery and lewd acts Simon is accused of allegedly carrying out on patients occurred in April 2009 and August 2010 at Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta, according to a news release issued by the Riverside County District Attorney's office following Simon's arrest on Tuesday.

Simon was taken into custody by Murrieta police at about 7 a.m. Tuesday at his Murrieta apartment on Jackson Avenue.

His arrest was a result of an investigation by the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse, which began an investigation in late 2010 after it received reports about possible inappropriate or criminal activity by a nurse at the hospital.

To read Patch's initial report about the allegations, click here.

Simon no longer works at the hospital.

"When Rancho Springs Medical Center learned of this incident, we immediately notified the proper authorities and the nurse was terminated," said Brian Connors, spokesperson for Southwest Healthcare System, which operates the Murrieta hospital.

Simon remains jailed on $200,000 bail, according to sheriff's jail records.

He is due in court again Feb. 15 for a hearing on a motion to restrict his practice as a nurse, court records show.