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A nurse has been arrested on a charge of sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman who gave birth last month at a long-term healthcare facility in the US city of Phoenix.
Key points:
- The nurse was charged after his DNA was compared to the baby boy’s sample
- Nathan Sutherland has been arrested but declined to speak with police
- Two doctors who cared for the woman have resigned and been suspended
Investigators arrested 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse, on suspicion of one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, Phoenix police chief Jeri Williams said.
“We owed this arrest to the victim. We owed this arrest to the newest member of our community — that innocent baby,” Ms Williams said.
Mr Sutherland was one of the woman’s caregivers at the Hacienda HealthCare facility.
He was charged after authorities obtained a court order to take a DNA sample from him, which was compared to the baby boy’s DNA, police spokesman Tommy Thompson said.
Mr Sutherland declined to speak with police, Mr Thompson said.
The 29-year-old victim has been incapacitated since the age of three and gave birth at the facility on December 29.
Employees said they had no idea she was pregnant.
On Sunday, Hacienda HealthCare announced that one doctor who had cared for the woman resigned and another was suspended.
Through their attorney, the woman’s parents disputed characterisations that their daughter was comatose.
They described her as being intellectually disabled because of seizures in early childhood.
While she does not speak, she has some mobility in her limbs, head and neck. She also responds to sound and can make facial gestures.
A medical report describes her as having tubes to feed her and help her breathe.
Her family, who are members of the San Carlos Apache tribe in south-eastern Arizona, said in an earlier statement that they would care for the baby boy.
AP
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