Police: Arrest made in Hacienda Healthcare sexual assault investigation
Phoenix police confirmed an arrest has been made in the Hacienda Healthcare sexual assault investigation.
The announcement was made by Phoenix Mayor Thelda Williams and Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams during a press conference Wednesday morning.
Chief Williams said the suspect is 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse assigned to the 29-year-old patient in a vegetative state. Police said Sutherland was reportedly responsible for caring for the victim at the time of the sexual assault.
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/blakekellertv/status/1088118674966237184″,”author_name”:”Blake Keller”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/blakekellertv”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;This is 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland – he was booked and charged with sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse.&#lt;a href=”https://t.co/VR0gzhCmWF”&#gt;https://t.co/VR0gzhCmWF&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/KYMA11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;@KYMA11&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/0199vsi5za”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/0199vsi5za&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Blake Keller (@blakekellertv) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/blakekellertv/status/1088118674966237184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;January 23, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″} According to court documents released Wednesday, Sutherland “was found to be an employee of the original long term healthcare facility and in fact worked around the victim, treated her on numerous occasions and thus had direct access to her for an extended period of time.”
Sutherland had been an employee at the facility since 2011.
Police responded to the healthcare facility after employees called for help after a patient gave birth to a baby who needed medical attention.
Court documents said, “due to the victim’s condition it was determined she was unable to consent to the sexual contact that resulted in the pregnancy.”
Officials took the victim and the baby to a separate facility to be treated. Police have been working since December to find the suspect. Police said Wednesday the baby is in good health.
The investigation revealed police collected DNA tests from male employees to help find a match between the baby and the father.
Sgt. Tommy Thompson with the department said Sutherland was arrested Tuesday, but not at the facility.
During the investigation, Hacienda CEO Bill Timmons resigned after news of the sexual assault came to light.
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/blakekellertv/status/1088094501002870785″,”author_name”:”Blake Keller”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/blakekellertv”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Phoenix?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#Phoenix&#lt;/a&#gt; police announce an arrest of a 36-year-old Hacienda licensed practitioner in the sexual assault of a patient in a vegetative state. &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/arizona?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#arizona&#lt;/a&#gt; They made the arrest through DNA.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Blake Keller (@blakekellertv) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/blakekellertv/status/1088094501002870785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;January 23, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
Sutherland will be booked into jail and charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse.
Williams says they combed through details and talked with individuals to find probable cause for the arrest.
Sutherland had his initial court appearance on Wednesday, one day after his arrest. A judge set a $500,000 cash bond. If the bond is posted, Sutherland will be placed on house arrest with an ankle monitor.
The victim’s family attorney released a statement on Tuesday on her condition.
The family said their daughter was not in a coma, but she is able to move parts of her body, recognizes family members, and can respond to sounds.
The family released a statement Wednesday after Sutherland’s arrest was made public.
“The family and I are aware of the recent arrest of a Hacienda employee by the Phoenix Police Department. At this time, neither the family nor I wish to comment any further on this matter.”
