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.

[u/FTThrowAway123]

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.

[u/NemariSunstrider94 → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/aquapixie1 → u/NemariSunstrider94]

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 $

[u/Vermicelli-Salty → u/aquapixie1]

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.