A nurse in Arizona was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman and impregnating her.
Nathan Sutherland, a former nurse at a long-term care facility, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to the Associated Press. Sutherland also received lifetime probation for abuse of a vulnerable adult.
JUST IN: Nathan Sutherland, a man who sexually assaulted an incapacitated woman who later gave birth at a long-term care facility in Phoenix, has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for the crime. https://t.co/Bsai0HuCPv
— FOX 10 Phoenix (@FOX10Phoenix) December 2, 2021
Sutherland cared for the woman from 2012 to 2018 despite the state of Arizona telling the victim’s family that only women workers would care for the victim, reported AP.
“It’s hard to imagine a more vulnerable adult than the victim in this case,” Superior Court Judge Margaret LaBianca said, AP reported.
Workers at the Hacienda Healthcare facility discovered the victim was pregnant in December 2018 when a worker was changing her garments while giving birth, reported AP. A DNA test allegedly confirmed Sutherland was the father of the baby. (RELATED: Caretaker At Senior Living Facility Arrested For Allegedly Raping 87-Year-Old Woman With Dementia)
“To the victim, I am sorry,” Sutherland said, according to AP. “You didn’t deserve to be hurt no matter what was going on in my personal life and the demons I was fighting. I had no right to put you through that.”
The facility cooperated with investigators and “we are relieved that he will never again torment another innocent human being,” Hacienda Healthcare CEO Perry Petrilli told the Daily Caller in a statement.
“As they have been since the moment we learned of Sutherland’s terrible actions, our thoughts and hearts are with the victim, the victim’s family and loved ones. We hope this last chapter of the Sutherland case brings them all greater peace,” Petrilli added.