SPARTA, Wis. — A female nurse was ordered to prison for 1-1/2 years for sex with a drug-court patient, then lying that he had been raped her. Judge Paul Curran found Melissa Knutson guilty of misconduct in public office and obstructing an investigator with her fabricated account. The judge, plainly agitated at Knuts0n, offered no grace for her to get her affairs in order. To prison immediately, right now., he commanded. She was cuffed on the spot. The bailiff took her away. The prosecutor in the case, Monroe County District Attorney Kevin Croninger, called Knutson’s behavior “despicable” and “an embarrassment to nurses everywhere.”
“The harm caused by Ms. Knutson was deep and significant. Not only did she violate the sacred trust between a patient and a nurse, but she compounded that by falsely accusing the patient of sexual assault. This situation is particularly egregious given the patient in this situation was a participant in drug court.”
During sentencing Curran added t hati t appeared Knutson ffeelsmore important than everyone else and that her remorse was “a mile wide and an inch deep.”
Knutson. From Readsburg in nearby Sauk County.