This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Phoenix police say a licensed practical nurse has been arrested on a charge of sexual assault in the impregnation of an incapacitated woman who gave birth last month at a long-term healthcare facility.

The Phoenix police chief, Jeri Williams, said on Wednesday investigators arrested 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland on one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse.

Anger at Phoenix facility where incapacitated woman gave birth Read more

Williams said Sutherland worked at the Hacienda HealthCare facility where the woman lived and had been providing care to her.

The 29-year-old victim has been incapacitated since the age of three and gave birth to a boy at the facility on 29 December.

Employees said they had no idea she was pregnant. Court records say her last known physical examination was in April.

John Michaels, a lawyer for the woman’s family, said she was not in a coma but has “significant intellectual disabilities” and does not speak but has some ability to move, responds to sounds and is able to make facial gestures.

“The important thing here is that contrary to what’s been reported, she is a person, albeit with significant intellectual disabilities. She has feelings and is capable of responding to people she is familiar with, especially family,” he told the Arizona Republic newspaper.

Williams said the police felt they owed the arrest of the suspect to the victim. “And we owed this arrest to the newest member of our community, that innocent baby,” Williams said.

The surprise birth late last month triggered reviews by state agencies, highlighted safety concerns for patients who are severely disabled or incapacitated and led to disciplinary actions and resignations of staffers and managers. It also prompted authorities to test the DNA of all the men who worked at the Hacienda HealthCare facility.

Sutherland, 36, submitted his DNA sample under court order on Tuesday and the results came back a few hours later, showing he was a match to the baby. He declined to speak with police and invoked his fifth amendment rights to remain silent, a police spokesman, Tommy Thompson, said.

Sutherland’s defense attorney David Gregan said: “There’s no direct evidence that Mr Sutherland has committed these acts. I know at this point there’s DNA. But he will have a right to his own DNA expert.”

Investigators found that Sutherland had treated the victim and spent a lot of time with her, according to a probable cause statement. Investigators believe he raped the patient some time between February and April.

The case continues.