Former nurse sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting incapacitated woman who later gave birth
CBSN
A former Arizona nurse was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman at a long-term care facility where she later gave birth. Nathan Sutherland received the maximum punishment called for under his agreement to plead guilty to sexual assault.
He also received lifetime probation for a conviction for abuse of a vulnerable adult stemming from his treatment of the woman.
"It's hard to imagine a more vulnerable adult than the victim in this case," said Superior Court Judge Margaret LaBianca, adding that Sutherland exploited his position of trust as a caregiver to sexually abuse the victim.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.