A former nurse, Christopher Lambros, has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting unconscious patients starting in 2016.
Lambros, aged 62, pleaded guilty to six counts of attempted sexual assault, which are classified as class 5 felonies. Each count carries a sentence of three years and eight months. Lambros received credit for the 410 days he spent in jail prior to his guilty plea.
Lambros was Caught Taking Photos of Patient's Genitals by Colleague
As previously reported, Lambros was arrested in October 2022 after law enforcement received a report in July of that year. According to a probable cause affidavit from the Grand Junction Police Department, a colleague at approximately 8:45 p.m. on July 9 called 911 to report that an employee at St. Mary's Hospital had witnessed Lambros "taking photos of a patient's genitals" that evening.
colleague who allegedly witnessed Lambros' conduct told the investigator that she had gone to the intensive care unit to check on a patient and noticed that the lights were off and the curtain was drawn.
When the colleague pulled back the curtain, she saw the patient, unconscious, with her gown pulled up, exposing her breasts, and the bed sheet was pulled down, exposing the patient's genitals, according to the affidavit.
"[The witness] said she saw a nurse, who she knew as Chris Lambros, with his head on the patient's stomach, with his face toward the patient's feet, with what she believed [was] his right arm extended, holding what she was sure was an unknown make/model cell phone in a black case, in a position as if he was taking a 'selfie' picture," the affidavit said.
The witness allegedly said that when Lambros saw her, he dropped his phone on the patient's bed and covered her back up with the gown before leaving. The witness then reported the encounter to her supervisor.
Investigators Found Several Other Videos of Lambros Sexually Assaulting Patients for his 'Dexter Collection'
Further investigation revealed that Lambros possessed a significant amount of data, including additional photos and videos.
A digital forensic analysis of the phone allegedly revealed "photographs and videos of Lambros posing with a number of victims who were unconscious, in the hospital setting" as well as Lambros "photographing himself sucking on victims' breasts and digitally penetrating victims," the affidavit states. The data also allegedly showed that 168 photos and videos had been deleted form the device between April 30 and July 9.
In another video from June, Lambros appears to reference the fictional serial killer Dexter Morgan, who kept a collection of blood slides from each of his victims as trophies. "Lambros can be heard whispering to the camera saying 'don't ever get rid of these videos' and 'you need to keep them forever... this is your Dexter collection,'" the affidavit notes.
The U.S. Secret Service was called in to assist with processing this evidence. Lambros had worked as a nurse at St. Mary's Medical Center in Grand Junction for a decade.
According to District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, the investigation indicates that there may be 13 victims in total, although only five have been identified so far. While not all victims could be identified by name, individual cases were established, and patients were located with the assistance of St. Mary's.
