A young mother has been sent to jail for stealing confidential medical records from work then posting that information online for the world to see. The records belong to a woman living with HIV. The defense asked for no jail time, while the prosecutor wanted a month behind bars. But the judge said the crime was so egregious he handed down a sentence harsher than what both attorneys asked for.
“When I said personal information, it is information that is private. It should not have been revealed,” said judge Randy Lee. He gave a stern scolding to Rhonda Wong-Fernandez before sentencing her to a year behind bars.
“We are not talking about someone talking stink about someone,” Judge Lee said, “we are talking about something very sacred to someone.”
The 22-year-old committed her crime at Straub Clinic in 2007 where she worked as a clerical assistant. There she found out a woman she had a dispute with had HIV. But instead of keeping it a secret, she accessed her medical records and then spread the private information on MySpace.
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I think this is the first sentencing of this kind that I can remember seeing. Can anyone think of any other cases like this?