Man Sentenced to 9 Months in Jail for Sexual Battery of Nurse in 2023
NORFOLK, Va. – Dmitriy Vladimirovic Vakhrushev, 56, was convicted on Wednesday of misdemeanor sexual battery and sentenced to nine months in jail after Mr. Vakhrushev sexually harassed a nurse at the residential medical facility where he lived last year.
On Aug. 7, 2023, Mr. Vakhrushev made verbal sexual advances at and groped a nurse multiple times at the residential therapy center where he lived due to having suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident. The nurse recorded part of the interaction on her phone, in which Mr. Vakhrushev could be heard making the sexual advances and the nurse repeatedly rejecting him, saying “no,” and asking him to leave.
On Aug. 31, Mr. Vakhrushev was found guilty in Norfolk General District Court of misdemeanor sexual battery. Mr. Vakhrushev appealed his conviction to Norfolk Circuit Court, and on Wednesday he pleaded no contest to the same charge with no plea agreement. Judge Tasha D. Scott found Mr. Vakhrushev guilty and, after hearing the arguments of the prosecution and defense, sentenced him to nine months in jail with another three months suspended on the condition that Mr. Vakhrushev be of uniform good behavior for one year.
“Our nurses and other healthcare professionals do difficult and thankless jobs. We owe them a duty to protect them from harm and sexual assault in their workplaces, and we have done just that,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “While we are sympathetic to those who have suffered traumatic brain injuries, Mr. Vakhrushev had no excuse for what he did, and that is why he earned his sentence. Once again, my office has handled the prosecution of a dangerous public-safety misdemeanor with no financial support from Richmond. I call on our state government to fund all prosecutors in Virginia to participate in cases like these.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney W. Joshua Holder prosecuted Mr. Vakhrushev’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth.
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