WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - A 28-year-old man who sexually assaulted three patients at a Wichita hospital earlier this year has been sentenced to over 32 years in prison followed by a year in jail.

Miguel Rodela pleaded guilty in September to rape, two counts of attempted rape and two counts of battery. Sedgwick County District Judge Bruce Brown sentenced him Thursday to 389 months in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections and 12 months in jail. He was also ordered to pay $725 per victim for sexual assault kits.

Rodela was arrested on June 15 after security at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis reported the incident.

A court document states a nurse entered the room of a 76-year-old woman and found a man with his hands near the patient's vagina. The man was manipulating the patient's external catheter. The patient told officers she felt discomfort and felt the man's fingers inside her.

The two sisters of that woman spoke to the courtroom Thursday recounting what she felt that night and how she has been since.

“My sister thought she was going to die that early morning. She was terrified, she felt helpless, confused.”

"Before June 15, 2023, my sister was a different person. She has never been the same after that day. A part of her really did die that day and she will never get this back. Her life as she knew it was stolen from her. It's shattered beyond recognition.”

Police also met with an 82-year-old patient on the 7th floor. A nurse technician said she saw a man kneeling beside the bed with both of his hands under her blankets and the blankets were moving around her thigh area. The patient also said the man kissed her on the mouth.

Later, a security officer said he observed Rodela on top of a 47-year-old woman with a traumatic brain injury, and he was lifting up her shirt. Rodela was arrested after fighting with security officers in a hospital room.  

Rodela told investigators he had been drinking before the incident and having sexual fantasies about hospital patients. Rodela admitted to police he contacted three patients, and possibly a fourth, by rubbing and kissing on them until they woke up.   

Although police said Rodela told patients he was a nurse in training, he was not employed by the hospital. Rodela told officers he tried to avoid contact with hospital staff.  

The judge presiding over the case, Bruce Brown, encouraged Rodela to get help and turn his life around.

"You live in a community where there's lots of resources. I mean, you've got to engage," said Judge Brown. “I urge that you embrace the resources that are around you. Because you certainly deserve better and that community deserves better.”

The three victims have filed lawsuits against Ascension Via Christi Hospitals.