Disabled woman who gave birth after alleged rape may have been pregnant before
A severely disabled woman who gave birth at an Arizona health care facility — weeks before a former nurse was charged with raping her — had likely been pregnant before, according to a report citing new documents.
The 29-year-old woman, who had lived at Hacienda HealthCare in Phoenix since 1992, delivered a baby boy on Dec. 29 — shocking her caregivers, who said they had no clue that she had been pregnant.
Nathan Sutherland, 39, a licensed practical nurse who cared for the woman, was charged with sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse. Authorities said his DNA matched a sample taken from the newborn. He has pleaded not guilty.
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On Wednesday, the woman’s lawyers filed a $45 million notice of claim to Arizona and Hacienda HealthCare that claims she had been raped repeatedly and had likely been pregnant previously, according to CNN.
The Maricopa County medical center examined the woman after she gave birth and determined that she had been “violated repeatedly,” according to the documents cited by the news outlet.
There was likely a “repeat parous event” — meaning she may have been pregnant before, the documents say, though it was unclear whether she carried a previous pregnancy to term.
She also suffered multiple sexual assaults that caused her permanent physical and emotional pain, and led to significant emotional distress for her parents, the lawsuit alleges.
Before the woman gave birth, there were 83 missed opportunities to diagnose her pregnancy, according to the documents.
“Over the past couple of days to weeks, the staff had noticed increased abdominal distention, and firmness,” the lawsuit alleges.
The day she delivered the baby, she was “undergoing a workup for possible GI illnesses such as diverticulitis,” according to the documents.
“The nurse on staff had noticed the patient no longer had abdominal distention or tenderness. An hour later, she returned to the room and lifted the sheets, and found that the baby’s head had delivered,” the documents say.
Her family accuses the state of being “vicariously liable for the negligence, gross negligence and medical negligence” at Hacienda.
The documents also allege negligence, gross negligence and “negligence per se” in addition to the vicarious liability.
The first two claims arise from the state’s “placement of the victim at Hacienda and subsequent failure to exercise reasonable oversight” about her care.
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“The unspeakable atrocities … occurred as a result of systemic and individual misconduct and mismanagement at the Hacienda (facility) and virtually nonexistent oversight on the part of the state,” the lawsuit says.
The woman, who is bedridden and nonverbal, has intellectual disabilities as a result of childhood seizures — but can move some of her extremities and make facial gestures, her relatives say.
Although her parents initially asked that she be cared for by female workers and were assured that she would be, that did not happen, according to documents.
Instead, unsupervised male caregivers — including the suspect — were allowed to go into her room, the lawsuit says.
The claim seeks a $25 million settlement for the woman and $10 million for each of her parents within two months or the case will be taken to court, CNN reported.
CNN said it did not get a response from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. The network also was awaiting a response from Hacienda HealthCare for comment on the lawsuit.
The facility earlier said it was making changes to ensure the safety of its patients, including new security cameras and officers, and retraining for workers on abuse and neglect protocols.
“Our patients, their families, our team members and the community deserve nothing less than this commitment from us,” Hacienda HealthCare said.