Nurse charged with rape of woman in coma who gave birth unexpectedly

A man has been charged in connection with with the rape of an Arizona woman who gave birth to a baby boy while in a coma.

Nathan Sutherland, a 36-year-old nurse at the care home where the woman lived, was identified after a test proved that his DNA matched that of the baby. The woman, 29, went into labour unexpectedly at Hacienda Healthcare in Phoenix in December and gave birth to a baby boy. Staff caring for her at the private facility were not aware that she was pregnant. Mr Sutherland, who worked at Hacienda since 2011, was responsible for the woman's care, reports Fox News. He was arrested this week and is to be charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, Phoenix Police told a press conference. The woman has been in care since the age of three and has been described as being in a "vegetative state". She has "significant intellectual disabilities" as a result of severe seizures in her early childhood, her family said in a statement. She is unable to speak but has some movement in her limbs, neck, head and face. The woman's family "is obviously is outraged, traumatised and in shock by the abuse and neglect of their daughter," their attorney John Michaels said earlier this month. The baby boy is now being cared for by them and is doing well, police spokesperson Tommy Thompson said. "We can't always choose how we come into this life, but what we can choose to do as a community is love this child, and that's what we have the opportunity to do." The CEO of Hacienda Healthcare, as well as one of the victims's doctors, have resigned as a result of the scandal. Another doctor who was responsible for her care has been suspended.