Ex-Nurse Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Patient in Vegetative State

U.S.|Ex-Nurse Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Patient successful Vegetative State

A erstwhile Arizona caregiver accused of abusing a pistillate successful a vegetative authorities who had been successful his attraction and who aboriginal gave commencement to his kid pleaded blameworthy connected Thursday to intersexual assault, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

The nurse, Nathan Sutherland, who worked successful a Phoenix nursing home, besides pleaded blameworthy to 1 number of maltreatment of a susceptible adult, besides a felony.

Mr. Sutherland, 39, faces up to 10 years successful situation for the intersexual battle charge, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said successful a statement; the maltreatment complaint brings beingness probation. Mr. Sutherland is being held astatine the Lower Buckeye Jail successful Phoenix until his adjacent tribunal appearance, scheduled for Nov. 4.

Mr. Sutherland had previously pleaded not guilty during a minute-long arraignment successful February 2019. A lawyer for Mr. Sutherland could not instantly beryllium reached for remark connected Friday.

The transgression lawsuit began to unfold successful December 2018, erstwhile a pistillate astatine an Hacienda HealthCare installation successful Phoenix who cannot speech oregon locomotion gave commencement to a boy, overmuch to the astonishment of unit members astatine the facility, which specializes successful semipermanent attraction of radical with intelligence disabilities.

In the weeks that followed, the probe became the main absorption of the Phoenix Police Department, its main said astatine the time, and led to questions astir the company’s operations and conduct. The company’s erstwhile chief enforcement resigned soon after the arrest, and the installation became the absorption of not lone constabulary investigations, but besides investigations by the Arizona Department of Health Services and investigations by the authorities into Medicaid fraud.

The authorities Attorney General’s Office yet recovered that former officers with Hacienda improperly allocated funds, inflated disbursal reports and practiced improper billing, resulting successful an overpayment of astir $11 cardinal from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to the facility.

The lawsuit besides led to a suit filed by the victim’s parents claiming that contempt promises from the authorities that lone women would thin to their daughter, Mr. Sutherland had cared for her connected hundreds of occasions from 2012 done 2018, The Arizona Republic reported.

The pistillate had been successful the aforesaid condition, incapable to pass oregon move, since entering the nursing location successful 1992, erstwhile she was 3 years old, according to aesculapian records. The family’s lawyer could not beryllium instantly reached for comment.

During the investigation, the Phoenix Police Department collected the DNA of antheral unit members astatine the facility, and zeroed successful connected Mr. Sutherland due to the fact that helium was among the aesculapian unit members astatine Hacienda HealthCare who were assigned to attraction for the pistillate astir the clip in 2018 that the constabulary believed she had been assaulted. A DNA illustration from Mr. Sutherland matched that of the child, a lad who was calved successful December 2018. Mr. Sutherland was arrested the adjacent month and sent to jailhouse successful Maricopa County connected suspicion of 1 number of intersexual battle and 1 number of susceptible big abuse.

A licensed applicable nurse, Mr. Sutherland had worked astatine Hacienda since astatine slightest 2012 and was assigned to a portion treating intellectually disabled radical successful 2014, the institution said successful a connection successful 2019. He was fired instantly aft the institution learned of his arrest, that connection said.

Since its founding successful the precocious 1970s, Hacienda HealthCare has grown into 1 of the largest backstage providers of attraction successful Arizona for radical with superior cognitive and carnal disabilities, operating mostly retired of a azygous field astir six miles southbound of downtown Phoenix.

“After much than 2 and a fractional years, each of america astatine Hacienda HealthCare are relieved that Nathan Sutherland has yet pleaded blameworthy to his atrocious offenses,” the institution said connected Thursday.