A few weeks ago we brought you the devastating story of a woman, who, having been in a vegetative state for 14 years, gave birth to a baby boy.
Police launched an investigation, which involved a court order demanding the DNA of all of the male staff at the Hacienda HealthCare facility in Phoenix, where the woman had spent over a decade following a near-drowning.
It has now been confirmed that one of the men compelled to provide a DNA sample to investigators, Nathan Sutherland, “matched the baby,” reports CNN.
Nathan Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse who was caring for the woman at the Hacienda HealthCare facility, has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, according to court documents from Maricopa County Superior Court.
…A judge set a cash bond at $500,000 and scheduled Sutherland’s next court appearance for January 30. The nurse is being held in the Maricopa County Jail.
Sutherland is ‘pleading the fifth’ and refusing to give a statement or participate in interviews. According to NewsTimes, Sutherland, 36, registered as a practical nurse in 2011.
He is “a devout Christian who tours local churches in Phoenix with his sister (above) under the group name, ‘SLEEPLESSSOLJAZ’”.
Police are now trying to determine whether Sutherland assaulted anyone else at the facility and if the identified victim was assaulted more than once.
The baby boy is apparently doing well in his family’s care.
