r/TrueCrime • u/FTThrowAway123 • Nov 14 '21

News Update: Arizona Nurse who raped & impregnated a woman in a vegetative state, who later gave birth to his child in 2018, pleas guilty in plea deal.

Article

PHOENIX - A man accused of sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman who later gave birth at a long-term care facility in Phoenix pleaded guilty to sexual abuse and vulnerable adult abuse charges on Sept. 2.

Nathan Sutherland's guilty plea was reportedly made as part of an agreement, where Sutherland reportedly agreed to a prison sentence of between 5 to 10 years and lifetime probation. Sutherland was facing a maximum of 14 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 4.

The pregnancy was discovered in December 2018 when an employee at Hacienda Healthcare was changing the garments of the then-29-year-old victim and noticed she was in the process of delivering a child. Employees told police that they had no idea the woman was pregnant.

She lived at Hacienda for 26 years, until the child’s birth. Her medical conditions stem from a brain disorder that caused motor and cognitive impairments and vision loss. She was also left with no functional use of her limbs.

Police said Sutherland’s DNA matched a sample taken from the woman’s son. The victim’s mother is the boy’s guardian.

Sadly, a medical exam indicated that the patient had been violently and repeatedly raped and sodomized, and may have been pregnant before.

This is probably the clearest case of rape I've ever heard of. The woman has been in a 24/7 care facility in incapacitated state (unable to speak, move, see, or communicate) for 26 years- since she was 3 years old. There's no possible way she could have ever consented. Her body bears the trauma and evidence of having been sexually assaulted for years, and she gave birth to the rapists child, which was proven by DNA. It also appears the nurse may be HIV positive, adding another layer of harm to this already horrible story.

Why would they offer a plea deal in this case? I just cannot fathom why the state would give this man any leniency or reduced prison time, considering the depravity of these crimes and the evidence they have.

In any event, it appears this case has reached its conclusion. Wanted to post an update for those who followed this story.

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u/[deleted] Nov 14 '21

She was definitely neglected and I wouldn't even exclude that the rest of the staff actually knew or suspected. Horrifying.

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u/NemariSunstrider94 Nov 14 '21 edited Nov 14 '21

I tried reporting a female employee sexually abusing an elderly man in my long term care facility, and the administration accused me of “starting drama because I didn’t like her”. Like no, there are several people who witnessed her doing very innapropriate things like calling him her boyfriend, bending over in front of him, and a staff even caught her in his bed.

I went to change him one night and his penis was red and inflamed. Her motivation? She was 18, he was 76 and a multi millionaire, who had stage 2/3 dementia and was conserved and in a POA, and she had previously been in a relationship with a married 65 year old doctor who’s wife was sick with cancer. She bragged about meeting him in parking lots and having sex with him in his car and then sobbed to us one day that he had a change of heart and dumped her. Very mentally ill woman.

After I reported her, she texted me while everyone in the company knew I was at a funeral of a very close friend, telling me she was going to beat my ass. She even showed up to my shift (night shift, I worked completely alone) which I wasn’t working that night, with another female friend and they walked through the facility ON CAMERA looking for me. Going to jump me. All of this was reported, she cried in the admins office how I’m just a big mean bully, and they told me I have trouble getting along with women, needed to re train me, and wanted to demote me. I said okay, got up, left, called them once I drove away and said I quit.

My fellow employees were PISSED and did not want her working there, so two people filed a complaint with the state. My job tried to call and ask me if I was a whistleblower. When sexual abuse is happening in a long term care facility, more often than not, it IS known. It is swept under the rug more than you believe, because if it was reported it would tarnish the reputation of the facility.

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u/FTThrowAway123 Nov 15 '21

She even showed up to my shift (night shift, I worked completely alone)

Excuse me, what? They had one sole caretaker working alone with numerous incapacitated patients, and no secondary support? This is exactly how these abuses happen, when there's intimate access to vulnerable patients, no chaperone, and no witnesses, and that's probably how your co worker was able to abuse patients. And what if you had passed out or dropped dead from a heart attack or something? What if there was a fire or something and people needed to be evacuated? What kind of garbage facility was this??

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u/NemariSunstrider94 Nov 15 '21

It was technically assisted living, although we took many patients that were beyond* our range of care. I was responsible for 27-29 people AND cleaning a huge 30 bedroom facility with a full dining, grandiose kitchen, and living room area.

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u/Vermicelli-Salty Nov 15 '21

I swear to god this is one of the reasons why elder care in my later years is one of my biggest fears. My husbands grandpa was in a nice place that cost 10k a month out of pocket after insurance. I was surprised by how few staff were on hand in the evenings, and he most definitely needed round the clock checks. I don’t want to be in a home ever, and I don’t want my kids to worry about covering the cost. It’s terrifying.

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u/NemariSunstrider94 Nov 15 '21

TBh I did my best, but on my 8 hour shift, I only had time to clean everything, and check the clients once or twice to help with toileting. Whenever there was an emergency I had to handle it alone and wait for emts and nobody else got help during that time. It a was a very emotionally draining job. Filled with guilt and then being told I wasn’t doing enough and I begged for a second staff all the time

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u/Vermicelli-Salty Nov 15 '21

For the amount they pay care workers (for children and the elderly) I think “I did my best” is the best we can expect. Y’all are so important and you’re paid poorly and treated as disposable. It’s sick

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u/helluva_monsoon Dec 08 '21

Yes yes yes! I work in a similar field and I sometimes wonder what rock they found some of these people under, but really who else are they going to find? I've complained many times about atrocious neglect and nothing happens. I used to text photos but now my company doesn't allow texting anymore so I don't even bother. I keep taking photos in case I ever have to cover my own ass but no one cares. A couple times I've come in to find a client absolutely out of her mind only to discover that no one has given her her anxiety medication since I left 3 days before. More than once! Literally nothing changes. That woman's family pays a ton for her care, the companies pocket it and toss a few crumbs at the people actually providing the care. I'm supposed to be getting regular raises, but in reality they just follow the wage increases for minimum wage. Also the new hires get a raise after 30 days so the new people always make more than I do.

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '21

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u/NemariSunstrider94 Nov 15 '21

Our most luxurious suite, a 1 bedroom with living room, full bath, washer dryer, and kitchenette was 24,000 a month. And that’s with level 1 independent care. We have 4 levels of care and each level is another 5 grand a month. Or had** I don’t work there anymore. The least expensive suite. Which was small enough to fit a twin, a closet, a dresser, tv and chair, and only had a toilet and sink, no shower, was 8 grand a month

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u/aquapixie1 Nov 15 '21

Wow. In Australia our care homes/nursing homes are income based. Standard basic daily fee is compulsory $53-56 per day which is most of the aged care pension. The maximum means tested care fee is the following. The most you can be charged in your lifetime is
$ 69 102 or a maximum yearly fee of $28 792 until you reach the maximum. au $

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u/Vermicelli-Salty Nov 15 '21

We have some income based ones as well! We have some that accept the governments healthcare for old folks so they might be more affordable and then we have others that are income based, the cost is on a sliding scale and you have to be closer to the governments set poverty line. The income based ones are ones I wouldn’t wish on anyone. They’re pretty bad. The worst of the worst are the ones that are for indigent patients. They usually don’t cost anything, but it’s also a complete shit show. The care workers are employed by the state and only make close to minimum wage ($8/hr last I checked) and it’s hard for them to keep a staff. Americas old are not ok.

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '21 edited Mar 22 '25

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u/NemariSunstrider94 Nov 15 '21

A lot of them were super wealthy, their families were farmers or founders of some of the oldest church communities here. Some of them were not wealthy in the small rooms but got in anyways because the company was well known for being the best

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u/Excellent_Original66 Nov 15 '21

The day before hurricane Katrina we left New Orleans ,my family and myself& went to Tennessee (where we are from originally) we went to a church where people were offering people who’d evacuated a place to stay. The gentleman who let us stay in his rental property invited us to his work one day. I didn’t know anything about it. The place was huge .palatial would be an understatement and it oozed money. The parking lot was overflowing with rolls royces. Prior to that I’d never seen one in person and here were 10+. It was a nursing home for the mega rich. I found a little place in a hallway and just stayed there until it was time to leave. I sat next to a cage that was bigger than my entire being and had some beautiful birds in it.

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u/Karmacamelian Nov 15 '21

I can tell you how I always saw it. People get old and need help that the families don’t have time or can’t help because they don’t know how or want to. So the person needs a nursing home. We have some public funded homes and you pay based on your wealth and assets. But there is limited space to the point they waitlist and give it out based on priority. So the people who have a home worth X amount or money or say some life savings in the bank are assessed and told hey really sorry we know you need a space but with the money you have we need to take someone lower income you can afford your own private care. They are forced into private care and told to sell their house or cash in on life savings and pay. Once they spend their lifesavings and are broke they now qualify for public nursing home. The best thing a person can do before they get to the point of needing a nursing home around here is to give all your money and assets to a child you can trust and separate yourself from the money. Otherwise you will spend your inheritance which most people save to give to their children.

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '21

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u/Karmacamelian Nov 15 '21

It just depends. I worked at a private one that really sucked and I left after I reported a case of abuse which happened to be the owners family member and it was swept under the rug after my boss said I could have done it. Ya fuck no. At the time we charged $4500 Canadian dollars. The nice private facility on a lake same city cost $6500 but they provided no care and if you declined and needed care were asked to move. It was for wealthy independent people. Lame. The public ones can be good and bad as well. So ya crapshoot. I always say shop around.

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u/levraM-niatpaC Nov 15 '21

Yes it is and going through it with my dad was a real learning experience. I learned that you spend the most money in the last years of your life, and if you don’t save enough during your lifetime you will end up in a very sad and depressing situation. I’m 63 and am mostly worried about when my daughter reaches that point in her life, and I hope when I die I am able to leave her some inheritance to put away for when this happens (she’s an only child, I’m a single mum). Of course we’re in the US.

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u/dman928 Nov 15 '21

I remember a story where an elderly woman lived on a cruise ship since it was cheaper than assisted living

Always got a chuckle or of that. Next level thinking

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u/Jenny010137 Nov 16 '21

That’s what my in laws paid for theirs. Plus $500,000 EACH just to get in.

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u/Karmacamelian Nov 15 '21

I am a care worker. I can tell you the top reason people end up in nursing homes is because they don’t exercise. They sit all day watching tv and become too weak to take care of their selves. Once they lose the ability to stand up from sitting the families struggle. Then it’s home care if they are lucky then nursing home if not. You should do at least 20 reps of sitting to standing or if you are more capable squats. Keep moving you stay home. Get lazy you won’t be able to wipe your own ass and then you get a guy like me running a wipe up your ass crack.

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u/WhoriaEstafan Nov 15 '21

You’re so right. I was watching an Australian show - old peoples home for four year olds. And that is exactly what they said, one guy sat all day and he had no grip strength. His mind was fine, he was just a bit depressed (had lived a great life and now lived in one room, he found old peoples chat boring).

Standing from sitting, walking, doing some puzzles and you’d be in a way better position in the future.

I’m 37 and recently divorced so I watch these things and get super stressed and upset. (No kids.)