WA caregiver charged with sexually assaulting disabled teen
Caregiver charged with sexually assaulting disabled man
A female caregiver accused of sexually abusing 19-year-old with the mental capacity of a toddler appeared in Tacoma court on Wednesday.
TACOMA, Wash. - A 49-year-old woman is charged with sexually assaulting a family friend’s mentally and physically disabled son.
What we know:
According to court documents, the suspect, Natayla Akinsheva, had worked as a caregiver for the 19-year-old victim for five years.
The victim is a client of the Department of Developmentally Disabled Administration through the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services; the suspect is not licensed through the WA Department of Health and works as an independent provider through Consumer Direct Care Network, according to the report.
Probable cause documents state the victim has the mental capacity of a two-to-three-year-old child. He is non-verbal, diagnosed with autism, epilepsy, developmental delays, hemiplegia and para-paralysis.
According to the report, the victim’s mom had installed cameras in the house in January based on what she called her "mother’s instinct."
On April 10, the victim’s mom checked the camera hidden in her son’s room via an app on her phone and witnessed Akinsheva in the process of sexually assaulting the teenager, according to the probable cause documents.
The report states the mom raced home and caught Akinsheva with her pants still down.
Akinsheva claimed she was changing the victim’s diaper, but then broke down crying and asked for forgiveness, referencing her 25-year friendship with the mom, according to the documents.
The court document states that Akinsheva lied to police during the interrogation, claiming nothing happened between her and the victim, until detectives revealed there were pictures of the incident.
Documents stated Akinsheva then changed her story and blamed the incident on her loveless marriage to her husband.
In court on Wednesday, Akinsheva pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A judge set her bail at $50,000.
The Source: Information in this story is from court documents obtained by the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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