Nurse’s Aide Sentenced For Molestation

FROM IDAHO MAIN NEWS A2 (Thursday, April 17, 1997): Correction Wrong employer: Steven D. Elliston is not an employee of Kootenai Medical Center and has not worked there since last fall. An article in Wednesday’s Spokesman-Review regarding Elliston’s sentencing on a molestation charge reported otherwise.

A Kootenai Medical Center nurse’s aid was sentenced to up to eight years in prison Monday for molesting an 18-month-old child on Nov. 13.

Steven D. Elliston, 23, will spend no less than two years in prison, Judge Craig Kosonen ruled.

Elliston, from Wallace, pleaded guilty to molesting an infant he was baby-sitting in Kellogg. Kellogg police arrested him on Nov. 19 on charges of lewd conduct with a minor younger than 16.

The child was injured and was taken to a hospital, police reported. That’s when the child’s parents reported the attack. Police did not describe the injuries.

Elliston was suspended from his job. Hospital spokesman Michael Regan said it was done for the safety of patients.

Elliston has been in trouble before. In 1991, he was convicted of a misdemeanor battery charge in Kootenai County for improperly touching an 11-year-old boy while massaging him after a football game. Elliston was originally charged with two counts of lewd conduct with a minor, to which he pleaded not guilty.

The charges were reduced to one misdemeanor battery charge and Elliston pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $500. Elliston was a pre-nursing student at the time.

Before going to prison in Boise, Elliston will spend 180 days at Cottonwood in Orofino.

After the 180 days, the program will prepare a report on Elliston’s conduct and progress. The court then will decide whether Elliston should be transferred to prison.

, DataTimes