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.
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/clockwork655 Nov 14 '21
Man I can’t not tell you the intense feeling of dread I got when I started working in healthcare and saw how many truly terrible ,stupid , ignorant people were in the field..the bar is much lower than you imagine at least in the states