Police officers in Phoenix, Arizona said a baby boy born to a woman who was in a vegetative state for years was in distress following the birth and has been admitted to hospital along with his mother.
Police Sergeant Tommy Thompson said yesterday that police had responded to calls that an infant had "coded," referring to emergency calls when "someone is in distress, having trouble breathing, or unconscious."
“When we arrived that’s when we found out that a baby had been born and was having issues,” Mr Thompson said.
He added that both mother and baby were at a local hospital “recuperating.”
It is unclear whether the baby was carried to full term but officers said the woman was “quite a ways along.”
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the woman's family said they are "traumatized and in shock" by the "abuse and neglect" of their daughter but that "the baby boy has been born into a loving family and will be well cared for."
On December 29, the woman, who has been in a vegetative state since suffering an injury more than 10 years ago, gave birth at Hacienda HealthCare.
Mr Thompson said the woman was “not in a position to give consent,” adding: “this was a helpless victim who was sexual assaulted.”
Responding to a question on whether the woman had been assaulted multiple times, he said: “At this point what I do know that at least once she was sexually assaulted, which is way too many times.”
He said he has “no idea” whether people at the care centre knew the woman was pregnant and failed to report it but there was a possibility people could face charges if they did know and did tell anyone.
Mr Thompson said he was “confident and hopeful” of finding the person who sexually assaulted the woman and DNA would be a “key” tool in the investigation.
Officials from the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation said on Tuesday that the woman was an enrolled member of the tribe, which is based in southeastern Arizona about 134 miles east of Phoenix.
