Nurse arrested over ‘coma rape baby’

A licensed nurse who was supposed to care for a woman in a vegetative state at a long-term Arizona nursing facility was arrested after she gave birth to a baby last month, officials in the US announced.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said at a press conference that 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland was arrested and will be charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse for the incident at the Hacienda Healthcare facility in Phoenix, reports Fox News.
 

“We have worked virtually non-stop every day, every night to resolve this case,” Chief Williams told reporters, adding that the crime was “beyond reproach.”
 

 

Sutherland invoked his Fifth Amendment rights after his arrest and did not give an interview to authorities regarding the case, according to police.

The chief said that police used “good old-fashioned police work” in addition to DNA tests on the baby to find a match and made the arrest. Sutherland had worked at the facility since 2011, officials added.

“We owed this arrest for the victim, we owed this arrest of the newest member of our community, that innocent baby,” Chief Williams said.

‘QUIET FAMILY MAN’

A former neighbour of the nurse says he was a quiet family man. Esella Burr said that 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland was her neighbour for more than five years until he sold his Phoenix-area home in October. Burr says Sutherland shared the home with his wife and four children, and she saw the couple leave for church every Sunday.

She says Sutherland would sometimes wave or start a conversation with her and once gave her a ride. He also mentioned that he liked his job as a nurse.

 

Hacienda HealthCare said in a statement that the 36-year-old had his job terminated after police announced his arrest. Hacienda says its officials are “troubled beyond words” that someone who passed an extensive background check could harm a patient and that officials will continue cooperating with police.

Sutherland has been released from jail on a $US500,000 cash bond. He must also wear an electronic monitoring device.

#LIVE: Nathan Sutherland, 36, is appearing in court. He is accused of sexually assaulting and impregnating an incapacitated woman at Hacienda Healthcare in Phoenix. She gave birth to the baby in December. Police say his DNA matched with the baby boy's DNA. https://t.co/Mzi8mSZ0wP pic.twitter.com/oIo5ULMyuQ

— FOX 10 Phoenix (@FOX10Phoenix) January 23, 2019

Clad in a T-shirt, athletic pants and jacket, the 36-year-old Sutherland was accompanied in his court appearance by defence lawyer David Gregan, who said his client has no prior criminal record.

Gregan also said Sutherland has the right to get his own DNA expert. Authorities say DNA from Sutherland matches DNA from the victim’s baby. Sutherland faces one count each of sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse.

SEARCH FOR ANSWERS

The 29-year-old victim has been incapacitated since the age of three and gave birth to a boy at the facility on December 29. Employees at the time said they had no idea she was pregnant. Court records say her last known medical check-up was in April.

“We may not know how many times this occurred,” Phoenix police spokesman Tommy Thompson told reporters.

Investigators had obtained a court order to collect DNA from Sutherland, which was compared to DNA from the baby boy.
 

 

RELATED: Audio from 911 call reveals panic as comatose woman gives birth

RELATED: Staff to be DNA tested as police hunt for ‘vegetative pregnancy’ rapist

Mr Thompson added that when the assault took place, Sutherland was responsible for the woman.

“This was an employee, rather than a stranger who made his way into the facility,” he said.

The baby boy is “doing well,” according to Mr Thompson, who added that it’s the community’s job to protect the child.

“We can’t choose how we come into this world,” he told reporters.

As her guardian, the woman’s mother was required to submit an annual report to the court that included results of a medical exam.

REPLAY: @phoenixpolice
news conference on arrest made in connection to sexual assault at #HaciendaHealthcare

STORY: https://t.co/du0Ju7AkuR
VIDEO: https://t.co/O2i7AxTZuX

— FOX 10 Phoenix (@FOX10Phoenix) January 23, 2019

The woman’s parents through their lawyer have disputed characterisations that their daughter is comatose, according to the Associated Press. They described her as being intellectually disabled because of seizures in early childhood. While she doesn’t speak, she has some mobility in her limbs, head and neck. She also responds to sound and can make facial gestures.

Phoenix Mayor Thelda Williams said that officers spent “endless hours” investigating the “hideous crime”.

“I know our officers took this crime to heart,” she said. “This is a facility you should be safe in, and someone wasn’t.”

FALLOUT SPREADS

The arrest comes a day after officials disclosed that two doctors at Hacienda Healthcare in Arizona are no longer at the facility.

One of the doctors resigned while the other has been suspended, a spokesman for the facility told Fox Newsin a statement. Neither doctor has been identified, but both cared for the 29-year-old woman.
 

 

“The two physicians who were responsible for the care of the sexual assault victim are no longer providing medical services to Hacienda patients. One has resigned. The other one has been suspended,” the spokesman told Fox News.

The latest development also comes after the facility’s CEO, Bill Timmons, resigned earlier in January following the incident.

The facility received a “below average” health-inspection rating in 2017, according to the Medicare website.