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Woman who revealed AIDS info gets a year
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jun 10, 2009
| This story has been corrected. See below. |
A 22-year-old woman was sentenced yesterday to a year in prison for illegally accessing another woman's medical records and posting on a MySpace page that she had HIV.
![[Preview]](http://media.starbulletin.com/images/video_front.gif)
Hawaii Straub Technician Sentenced for Unauthorized Computer Access![[Preview]](http://media.starbulletin.com/images/20090610_kitv_rhonda.jpg)
Rhonda Wong-Fernandez, 22, pleaded for a lighter sentence in court after she posted messages about another woman on the Internet.
[ Watch ]
Rhonda Wong-Fernandez also was sentenced to five years' probation and 200 hours of community service by Circuit Judge Randal Lee for first-degree unauthorized computer access, a felony.
Deputy Public Defender Alan Komagome sought a deferred acceptance of a no-contest plea, but Lee denied his request, describing the offense as "egregious" against the victim, 24, who died in April.
"This kind of conduct will not be tolerated," said Lee.
There was a feud between the victim and the victim's sister-in-law, a friend of Wong-Fernandez, according to Lee. Wong-Fernandez, who worked as a patient service representative at Straub Clinic & Hospital, accessed the computer for the victim's sister-in-law. The victim was a patient at Straub Hospital.
Between March 2007 and January 2008, Wong-Fernandez illegally accessed the patient's medical records three times through a computer, said Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter in court yesterday. After she learned of the victim's medical condition, Wong-Fernandez posted on her MySpace page that the victim had HIV. In a second posting, she said the victim was dying of AIDS.
Van Marter said the postings had a negative impact on the victim's personal life and relationship with friends who had access to MySpace.
The victim complained to hospital officials of the unauthorized access. Wong- Fernandez was terminated from Straub following an internal investigation.
"We take patient confidentiality seriously," said hospital spokeswoman Claire Tong.
Wong-Fernandez apologized for her actions in Lee's courtroom yesterday.
"At the time that these events took place, I acted selfishly and didn't think of the consequences until the damage was done," she said through tears. "I am deeply sorry for the hurt and anger I've caused."
Van Marter sought a 30-day jail sentence, but Lee instead sentenced her to a year, saying young adults need to understand the Internet cannot be used for unlawful conduct.
"It did cause serious harm. This is someone's personal information which was revealed to the world," said Lee.
Komagome sought a delay in Wong-Fernandez's sentencing so she can care for her 5-month-old daughter. She has two other daughters, ages 1 and 2. Lee denied the request. Komagome declined to comment after sentencing.
CORRECTIONWednesday, June 17, 2009
» Claire Tong is spokeswoman for Straub Clinic & Hospital. Her last name was misspelled in an article on Page 10 yesterday.
|
| This story has been corrected. See below. |
A 22-year-old woman was sentenced yesterday to a year in prison for illegally accessing another woman's medical records and posting on a MySpace page that she had HIV.
Hawaii Straub Technician Sentenced for Unauthorized Computer AccessRhonda Wong-Fernandez, 22, pleaded for a lighter sentence in court after she posted messages about another woman on the Internet.
[ Watch ]
Rhonda Wong-Fernandez also was sentenced to five years' probation and 200 hours of community service by Circuit Judge Randal Lee for first-degree unauthorized computer access, a felony.
Deputy Public Defender Alan Komagome sought a deferred acceptance of a no-contest plea, but Lee denied his request, describing the offense as "egregious" against the victim, 24, who died in April.
"This kind of conduct will not be tolerated," said Lee.
There was a feud between the victim and the victim's sister-in-law, a friend of Wong-Fernandez, according to Lee. Wong-Fernandez, who worked as a patient service representative at Straub Clinic & Hospital, accessed the computer for the victim's sister-in-law. The victim was a patient at Straub Hospital.
Between March 2007 and January 2008, Wong-Fernandez illegally accessed the patient's medical records three times through a computer, said Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter in court yesterday. After she learned of the victim's medical condition, Wong-Fernandez posted on her MySpace page that the victim had HIV. In a second posting, she said the victim was dying of AIDS.
Van Marter said the postings had a negative impact on the victim's personal life and relationship with friends who had access to MySpace.
The victim complained to hospital officials of the unauthorized access. Wong- Fernandez was terminated from Straub following an internal investigation.
"We take patient confidentiality seriously," said hospital spokeswoman Claire Tong.
Wong-Fernandez apologized for her actions in Lee's courtroom yesterday.
"At the time that these events took place, I acted selfishly and didn't think of the consequences until the damage was done," she said through tears. "I am deeply sorry for the hurt and anger I've caused."
Van Marter sought a 30-day jail sentence, but Lee instead sentenced her to a year, saying young adults need to understand the Internet cannot be used for unlawful conduct.
"It did cause serious harm. This is someone's personal information which was revealed to the world," said Lee.
Komagome sought a delay in Wong-Fernandez's sentencing so she can care for her 5-month-old daughter. She has two other daughters, ages 1 and 2. Lee denied the request. Komagome declined to comment after sentencing.
CORRECTIONWednesday, June 17, 2009
» Claire Tong is spokeswoman for Straub Clinic & Hospital. Her last name was misspelled in an article on Page 10 yesterday.
|
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