In US, nurse jailed for 10 years for impregnating debilitated patient at care facility

On Thursday, December 2, a former US nurse was handed a ten-year sentence for sexually assaulting and impregnating an incapacitated woman at the Hacienda HealthCare facility where she subsequently gave birth. Nathan Sutherland, a resident of Arizona, received the maximum sentence allowed upon pleading guilty to the crime. "It's difficult to imagine a more vulnerable adult than the victim in this case," Superior Court Judge Margaret LaBianca was quoted by the Associated Press (AP) as saying. While announcing the verdict, she stated that Sutherland took advantage of his position of trust as a caregiver to sexually assault the victim.

The pregnancy was noticed in December 2018 when a caretaker at the Healthcare facility was changing the clothing of the then-29-year-old victim. The patient's caretaker found that she was in the midst of giving birth. Employees at the facility told the police that they were unaware of the fact that the woman was expecting a child. The police revealed that Sutherland's DNA matched with a sample collected from the woman's newborn. The child's custody was later handed over to the victim's mother, added the police.

Sutherland apologised to the victim and her family

Before the verdict was announced, Sutherland briefed the judge about his struggles in life as a result of being placed for adoption as a kid. He also apologised to the victim and her family, saying he realises the situation isn't fair to the child either. "I apologise to the victim. Whatever was going on in my personal life and the demons I was facing, you didn't deserve to be hurt. I didn't have the authority to put you through that," he stated as per the AP. The unexpected delivery led to investigations by state agencies, raised safety concerns for severely injured or incompetent patients, and resulted in the resignations of Hacienda's CEO 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 HealthCare facility that only a woman nurse would attend her. Many of Sutherland's encounters with the patient occurred during the night, when not many staff personnel used to be present at the facility, stated an expert on behalf of the victim's family. Following Sutherland's arrest in 2018, he was fired by the Hacienda HealthCare facility and his nursing licence was also cancelled. Meanwhile, a judge granted a $15 million settlement with a doctor who cared for the woman at the facility for 26 years. However, the doctor's insurance company argued that it is under no obligation to pay that sum.

(With AP inputs)

Image: AP