Arrest Made In Rape Case At Hacienda Healthcare Facility
The Phoenix Police Department has arrested a nurse in connection with an incapacitated woman who gave birth back in December.
Nathan Sutherland, a thirty-eight-year-old nurse who worked at Hacienda Healthcare Center, was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse.
Arrest Made in Rape Case at Hacienda Healthcare Facility Where Incapacitated Woman Gave Birth
Arrest Made in Rape Case at Hacienda Healthcare Facility Where Incapacitated Woman Gave Birth
Sutherland was a licensed practical nurse at Hacienda Healthcare, and was responsible for providing care to the woman around the time that she became pregnant, says Sgt. Tommy Thompson of the Phoenix Police Department.
The arrest comes after a twenty-nine-year-old incapacitated woman gave birth on December 29th to a baby boy at the healthcare facility. The victim had been a patient at the facility since she was a toddler.
Staff at the Hacienda Healthcare Facility did not know of the woman’s condition until she went into labor.
Given the woman’s condition, police investigated the incident as a sexual assault. As part of the investigation, DNA samples from male employees at the center were requested, collected, and cross-matched with DNA from the baby boy.
One of the samples collected was from Sutherland. On Tuesday the Phoenix police department’s crime lab discovered that Sutherland’s DNA matched the baby’s. He was immediately taken into custody.
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According to state records, Sutherland was a licensed clinical nursing assistant in 2005, before becoming a licensed practical nurse.
Officials at the Hacienda Healthcare Facility say that Sutherland went through an extensive background check when he was first hired. The facility terminated his employment as soon as they learned of his arrest.
In a statement released by the Hacienda Organization, they said they are troubled beyond words at the thought that a licensed practical nurse could be capable of causing such serious harm to a patient.
Sutherland appeared at the Maricopa County Superior Court court on Wednesday, where he was arraigned and released on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
The woman’s family said in a statement that they were aware of the arrest but would not like to comment further on this matter.
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