Bessie Clark cannot comprehend how a caregiver could do such a thing as rape her stepdaughter, a physically and mentally disabled woman who was under the care of a Kent assisted-living contractor when the attack occurred.
King County Superior Court Judge Richard McDermott on Thursday found a 32-year-old Kent man guilty of second-degree rape Thursday in connection with attacks on the woman.
That man, Joseph W. Thurura, had been arrested for investigation of second-degree rape by Kent Police in June 2008 for attacks between Dec. 1, 2007 and March 18, 2008 against the 44-year-old woman.
The woman at the time lived in a Kent apartment and was receiving care from Integrated Living Services, which employed Thurura. The Kent company contracts with the state to provide residential services to people with profound developmental disabilities.
“It’s been stressful, right now I have a migraine again,” said Clark, of Seattle, in an interview outside the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent after the judge issued the guilty verdict. “It’s been very hard that it could even happen.”
King County prosecutors said the woman who was attacked is incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse because she is physically helpless and mentally incapacitated. The woman is legally blind and unable to speak. She has the cognitive level of an 11-month-old child.
“I’ll live with this the rest of my life,” Clark said. “All I can say is I have to focus on the good things. She has been in the care of good people ever since. They love her a lot and she’s a beloved person.”
The woman no longer lives in the apartment where the attacks occurred. She has found a new home.
Thurura sat next to his defense attorney with his arms folded during much of the 20-minute proceeding. He showed little emotion and did not look back at the woman.
“It was very devastating the whole thing,” Clark said. “You had a caregiver that’s entrusted and has a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) license, so he knew he shouldn’t take advantage of a resident and he did.”
According to charging papers, detectives used a DNA sample from Thurura to connect him with the woman, who had suffered a miscarriage. That unexpected event was what led enforcement authorities to begin the investigation in March 2008.
Thurura pleaded not guilty in July 2008 to the second-degree rape charge. He waived his right on Wednesday in King County Superior Court to a jury trial.
Judge Richard McDermott heard facts on the case from the defense attorney and prosecutor, and read the evidence in the case on Wednesday in order to issue his decision Thursday. Thurura did not testify in the case.
A state scientist estimated Thurura’s probable paternity in the miscarriage at 99.99 percent, according to charging papers.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the police report is strong, that the evidence is unwavering, that it is consistent with these conclusions – a 99.99 percent accuracy – leaves me with no doubt at all that the defendant is guilty of the crime he has been charged with,” McDermott said after he issued the guilty verdict.
Thurura is scheduled to be sentenced by McDermott at 11 a.m. Aug. 14. Thurura faces a sentence of 6 1/2 years to 12 1/2 years. He remains in jail on $250,000 bail.
Clark said a settlement was reached with Integrated Living Services. That money has gone into a trust fund for the woman’s care.
“She will be cared for the rest of her life,” said Clark, who added she could not reveal details of the settlement. “She will have all positive experiences for the rest of her life.”
An investigation last year by the Residential Care Services division of the State Department of Health and Social Services found that a Kent assisted-living contractor followed proper practices Thurura’s hiring and employment.
Clark wishes more could be done to protect people under the care of others.
“A certain percentage of the human race, they do things like this,” Clark said. “We really should try to do better on trying to discover these people before they can get into trouble and give them treatment.”
Despite what happened, Clark said she does not hate Thurura.
“I don’t like the guy,” Clark said. “I’m glad he’s going to prison, but I don’t hate him.
“There are all kinds of people that do bad things in this country. We can’t waste our time hating people. We’ve got to try to fix problems where they start when they are children and treat people right so they grow up straight and strong and decent.”
In time, Clark plans to forgive Thurura.
“Not yet, but I will,” she said. “It says in the good book we need to have forgiveness in our heart. It doesn’t mean I condone it. If I could have protected her, I sure would have. I feel terrible I couldn’t protect her.”
Clark remained uncertain whether prison will change Thurura.
“I wonder if time heals people,” she said. “He will be kept away from the public because he is a predator. I don’t think there’s a cure for what he has done. No amount of time can cure it.”
Clark plans to return to court for the sentencing next month. But even that won’t take away the pain she feels.
“I’m just devastated by it,” she said. “I wish these kind of things didn’t happen.”
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