Trust in the Wrong Hands

Trust In The Wrong Hands

Disabled Woman Sexually Assaulted By Nurse

Sarai Jorgenson

Sometime in December, a woman who has had an intellectual disability since 1992 and has been staying at a health facility in Arizona, gave birth. If you’re thinking, “well, how can that happen?”, it’s because she was sexually assaulted. This woman, with a disability where she can understand what’s going on but can’t verbally say anything like consent, was raped at a healthcare facility where people were supposed to be taking care of her, not putting a baby in her. The nurses at the hospital actually had no idea she was pregnant until the situation was right in front of them. Since the nurses at the hospital only care for people who can’t survive on their own, delivering a baby was a challenge for them, as they were not prepared. Fortunately, the paramedics arrived and made sure the baby was healthy, and then the investigation started on who sexually assaulted this woman. Through those investigations, the police found that Nathan Sutherland, a nurse working at the facility and one who was taking care of the woman at the time she would have become pregnant, was taken in due to his DNA matching the baby. It’s great that the police found the suspect so quickly, but it’s terrifying that someone had to be found at all. It’s so scary to think that even when you’re at a facility where people are supposed to take care of you and only do good to you and your health, people could still take advantage of you and hurt you. The woman and her family placed a great amount of trust into the nurses at this facility’s hands, and someone shattered it to pieces. I hope the healthcare

Photo by Erkan Utu

facilities in Arizona and even other places across the country think of ways to make those places safer and to provide more security to people who are disabled and incapable. It’s extremely upsetting to know that you can’t even be taken care of at a health facility without worrying if someone will take advantage of you.