State health officials suspend license of West Richland nurse accused of child porn

State health officials have suspended the license of a former Kadlec nurse accused of possessing hundreds of images of child pornography.

Darrin Ruddell of West Richland has 20 days to respond to the state’s action. He isn’t allowed to practice in the state until the matter is resolved.

As of Friday afternoon, Ruddell was in the Benton County jail. He’s pleaded innocent to nine felony counts ranging from first-degree possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct to sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of a controlled substance.

A judge on Thursday increased his bail to $175,000. He’d been out on $150,000 bail.

Ruddell’s trial in Benton County Superior Court is scheduled to start on June 6.

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "State health officials suspend license of West Richland nurse accused of child porn."