On Thursday, a former Arizona nurse was sentenced to ten years in jail for assaulting an incapacitated woman who subsequently gave birth to his child. In 2019, Nathan Sutherland, 39, was accused of sexually assaulting a quadriplegic lady who was unable to communicate.
According to The Arizona Republic, he pleaded guilty to counts of sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse in September. The offense of abusing a vulnerable adult carries a life sentence of probation.
Former Hacienda nurse sexually assaults incapacitated patient
Sutherland's 1,044 days in prison will be counted against his sentence, said Superior Court Judge Margaret LaBianca. Sutherland will face lifelong supervised probation and will be compelled to register as a sex offender after his release, according to the newspaper.
Before the victim gave birth to a boy on Dec. 29, 2018, Sutherland worked as a certified practical nurse at Hacienda HealthCare in Phoenix. In the sentence, Sutherland's sister and adoptive mother also spoke.
He was generally a really sweet and kind person, they claimed; but addiction and failed personal relationships had put him in a bad position. According to KTVK, the victim was involved in a near-drowning event when she was three years old, which left her in a vegetative condition. Her mother is now the legal guardian of her child.
An employee at the facility was changing the 29-year-old woman's clothes when she saw she was in labor. Employees told authorities they had no idea the woman was pregnant.
Sutherland was apprehended after a DNA sample was collected from him according to a court order. Sutherland told LaBianca about the challenges in his life that stemmed from being placed for adoption as a youngster before the sentence was handed down. He also expressed regret to the victim's relatives.
Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse, worked at the hospital since at least 2012 and was assigned to a unit treating intellectually disabled persons two years later, according to The New York Times, citing a Hacienda HealthCare statement from 2019. Sutherland was dismissed as soon as the firm learned of his arrest.
Victim's family alleges care facility of neglect
The unexpected delivery provoked state investigations, raised safety concerns for severely injured or incapacitated patients, and resulted in the resignations of Hacienda's Chief and one of the victim's doctors.
The victim's parents filed a lawsuit alleging that Sutherland cared for their daughter hundreds of times between 2012 and 2018, despite promises from the state - which contracts with companies like Hacienda to provide services to people with developmental disabilities - that only women would look after her. Many of Sutherland's encounters with the patient happened nighttime, when fewer staff personnel and guests were present, according to an expert on her family's behalf.
Hacienda overlooked indications that the woman was pregnant, according to the family's lawyers, who pointed out that she had gained weight, had a large tummy and had missed menstruation cycles in the months leading up to the child's birth. They claim the woman, who has a feeding tube and whose nourishment was restricted during the pregnancy due to her weight increase, gave birth to the child while extremely dehydrated and without pain medicine.
The victim was a tenant of Hacienda for 26 years, until the birth of the baby. Her medical issues arise from a brain disorder that left her with movement, cognitive, and visual difficulties. She was also left without the ability to move her limbs.
According to the Associated Press, a court has granted a $15 million settlement with a doctor who treated the woman when she was a patient at the hospital. The doctor's insurance company claims it is under no duty to pay that sum. The state of Arizona reached a $7.5 million settlement with the victim's family last summer.
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