A former nurse in Arizona has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an incapacitated patient who later gave birth, local reports said.
Nathan Sutherland entered a guilty plea on Thursday to one count of sexual assault and one count of abuse of a cognitively impaired patient.
The plea agreement calls for a sentence of five to 10 years imprisonment on the sexual assault conviction. The abuse of an incapacitated adult charge brings a lifetime of probation. Sentencing is set for Nov. 4.
Authorities were notified of the incident by personnel at the Hacienda Healthcare who called for police assistance when a patient gave birth and needed immediate medical attention.
The pregnancy was discovered when a staff at the facility in Phoenix was changing clothes of the woman, then 29 years old, and noticed she was in the process of giving birth.
Personnel at the Hacienda told authorities they had no idea the woman was pregnant.
A DNA sample Sutherland provided to police under court order matched the baby after the woman gave birth in December of 2018.
The victim has been a patient at the Hacienda since a near-drowning accident when she was three. She can't speak but has some ability to make facial gestures, move her limbs, and respond to sounds.
The woman had developed seizures when she was a child, and was diagnosed with idiopathic encephalopathy with psychomotor retardation and vision loss, Business Insider's Ashley Collman previously reported.
Authorities said in 2019 that it may be impossible to determine how many times the woman was raped. They also noted at the time that the baby was healthy.
The surprise birth sparked reviews by state agencies, underscored safety concerns for severely incapacitated patients and prompted the resignations of Hacienda Healthcare's chief executive and one of the woman's physicians.
"After more than 2 and a half years, all of us at Hacienda are relieved that Nathan Sutherland has finally pleaded guilty to his awful acts," the New York Post quoted the facility as saying.
A licensed practical nurse, Sutherland was terminated by Hacienda following his arrest and has since given up his nursing license.
