Former St. Peter’s nurse pleads not guilty to felony charge

A former St. Peter’s Health nurse pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to a felony charge that alleges he sexually assaulted a former patient.

Aaron John Gams, charged with abusing a vulnerable adult, appeared briefly in Lewis and Clark County District Court before Judge Kathy Seeley.

Gams, who posted a $50,000 bail shortly after his arrest on Dec. 31, 2024, remains free pending his trial that was tentatively set for Aug. 11. If found guilty, Gams faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Gams was fired from St. Peter’s Health last year amid the allegations that he sexually assaulted a former patient in 2023 while he was a nurse at the Helena hospital, according to charging documents filed by prosecutors with the Lewis and Clark County attorney’s office. 

The alleged victim claimed Gams had touched her breasts while she was admitted to the intensive-care unit for severe repository issues during the summer of 2023, according to the charging affidavit. 

The victim initially believed the assault was “a hallucination or dream,” because she had been in and out of consciousness while in the hospital’s intensive-care unit. The patient recovered and was discharged from St. Peter’s Health in August of 2023.

Then in September of 2024, Gams contacted the alleged victim via text message, confirming the assault and asking “if reconnecting was possible,” according to the charging documents. The patient subsequently contacted authorities.

The state Board of Nursing has also suspended Gams’ license for the alleged abuse and accessing the patient’s medical records without authorization.

The attorney representing Gams in the case involving the suspended license previously told Montana Free Press that Gams denies the assault allegations but admits that he violated patient privacy laws when he accessed the victim’s contact information.  

Gams’ lawyer in the criminal case, Misty Gaubatz of A&M Law of Missoula, declined to comment Tuesday but noted in an email to MTFP that her client is presumed innocent.

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