A woman with a disability in Arizona who has given birth has been raped several times, maybe pregnant before, according to the family



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By Minyvonne Burke

A patient with a disability in Arizona who gave birth, although no one in her long-term care center realized that her pregnancy was "repeatedly raped and raped" and that she could have been pregnant before, says the family in court documents

In a $ 45 million claim – the first step in a possible lawsuit against the state – the woman's family said the doctors who had examined her on the day of the day Childbirth had found signs that it may not have been the first time.

The review revealed old and already healed lacerations, which "were not caused by this delivery," says the court document.

The woman was being cared for in the Hacienda HealthCare facility in Phoenix since the age of 3 in 1992, after being diagnosed with brain injury with psychomotor retardation and partial or total blindness, according to the l & # 39; notice of claim.

She was 29 when she gave birth to a baby boy in December 2018.

A Hacienda staffer, Nathan Sutherland, who was his acting caretaker, was arrested in January for suspicion of sexual assault and violence against a vulnerable adult. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The woman's lawyer and her parents told KPNX, a NBC affiliate, that her family was surprised to see that she may have been pregnant already.

"It's the opinion of the person who examined it," said lawyer John Micheaels. "At a minimum, there were repeated violations" on his part, testified by physical scars.

"I do not know how much a person is certain of an earlier pregnancy," he added.

The family claims that the facility did not realize that she was pregnant while she was showing obvious physical signs.

"Hacienda staff did not accurately assess or diagnose the hardened mass of the distended abdomen (of the woman), her significant weight gain, as well as her genitals and lower limbs." inflated, "says the document, claiming that the caregivers treated her instead for constipation and reduced her caloric intake, from the weight she had gained.

According to the notice of claim, the family believes that the woman was repeatedly raped and that the sexual assault could have occurred for months or even years.

The woman's mother had previously asked her daughters to take care of her daughter. The state and the institution agreed to respect the wishes of the mother, but did not act on the document.

The request is for a settlement of $ 25 million for the woman and $ 10 million each for her parents.

The state attorney general's office confirmed to NBC News that it had received the notice of claim and declined to comment, noting that the state was represented in this case by a lawyer external.

NBC News also sought the advice of Hacienda HealthCare but had no immediate response.

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