PHOENIX – Documents indicate a woman with intellectual disabilities who was impregnated at a Phoenix Hacienda HealthCare facility was repeatedly raped before giving birth last December and, according to a doctor who inspected her, could have been pregnant before.
In the notice of claimthe first step for a possible lawsuit against the statea note from the Maricopa County Medical Center exam taken on the day the victim gave birth in December states, "Of note, on inspection of patient's vagina and introitus it is determined that this is a non-nulliparous event."
A nulliparous woman is defined as a woman who has not given birth.
"That came as a complete surprise to us," said John Micheaels, an attorney representing the victim and her family. "That was the opinion of the person that examined her. At a minimum, there were repeated violations of (the victim) from the scarring."
"How certain anyone is of a prior pregnancy, I don't know."
The victim had been at the facility since she was 3 years old, according to the notice of claim.
Police have arrested former Hacienda nurse Nathan Sutherland based on a DNA match provided by Phoenix police. He was charged with sexual assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult.
The family says their daughter, according to the medical records cited in the claim, was "violently and repeatedly raped" while living at Hacienda.