SALINE CO.— A Harrisburg nurse has been charged with Child Pornography after authorities say she took questionable pictures of one of her patients.
According to police reports, on April 14, at 10:36 a.m. Harrisburg officer Zach Popetz was dispatched to Tri-County Services, a multi-services agency for developmentally disabled individuals, on a call that an employee had taken nude photos of a resident.
“When I arrived I spoke with assistant administrator Belinda Mortag who advised she had learned of the incident just prior to calling dispatch,” Popetz wrote in his report. “She stated that Amber Farris reported to Tabitha Tanner that she witnessed Kerry Rutherford take a picture of (name withheld, here referred to as NW)’s genital area with her cell phone. She stated that NW is a non-verbal, profoundly disabled patient at Coleman Tri-County.”
Mortag told Popetz the incident had taken place the night before between the hours of 8-10 p.m. and that Amanda Satterfield reported that she witnessed the picture on Rutherford’s phone.
Amber Farris
According to court documents, Farris was at work at Coleman Tri-County sitting at the door of a high supervision room occupied by patients who require constant watch from nurses.
Farris said she had gone down the hall to put some books away and returned to see Kerry Rutherford in the room with her phone out.
Farris said the phone was up and turned sideways.
She said Rutherford then showed her the picture she had taken on her phone and said, “Doesn’t that turn you on? A big old ball sack and a poopy asshole?”
Farris said Rutherford then turned and showed the picture to Amanda Satterfield.
She described the phone as a thin touch screen smart phone black or gray in color with no phone case.
Amanda Satterfield
Satterfield told police that she and Farris were sitting in doorways of separate high supervision rooms near each other.
She said Rutherford had been passing out medication when she heard her ask Farris if she wanted to see something disturbing and before Farris could answer Rutherford showed her the picture on her phone.
Satterfield asked what it was and Rutherford showed her.
The photo was described as NW’s buttocks and genital area.
Satterfield asked Rutherford why she had the picture and Rutherford walked away not answering.
She described the phone as a black touch screen smart phone.
A search warrant was typed up and Popetz and assistant state’s attorney Amanda Moore presented it to the court.
A search warrant for the phone was signed by Judge Walden Morris.
Kerry Rutherford
At approximately 3:10 p.m. officer Popetz and Sgt. Todd Cavender, armed with a search warrant, arrived at 10 East Homer St., Apt. 3, Harrisburg, and knocked on Rutherford’s door.
When Rutherford answered she told the officers they could come in.
Cavender spotted the cell phone and advised her of the search warrant and took possession of the phone.
She agreed to accompany officers to the sheriff’s department where she was taken into an interview room.
Picture was deleted
Pursuant to the search warrant, Popetz took Rutherford’s Straight Talk LG Optima Showtime touch screen smart phone and went through the pictures looking for the photo taken of NW.
“The picture was not in the photo gallery,” Popetz said. “I was able to find the photo in another area and the information showed it was taken April 13, 2014 at approximately 8:04 p.m.”
Popetz said the photo was of a white male in a hospital gown and of his buttocks and his genital area.
The picture was printed off and kept as evidence.
Denied taking photo
After being read her rights and agreeing to answer questions, Popetz asked Rutherford if she had taken any pictures at work on the previous night.
“She stated that she had not,” Popetz said.
When asked if she had ever taken any pictures while working at Coleman Tri-County she again said she had not.
Popetz then asked her if she had ever taken pictures of any patients while working as a nurse she and she said that she had while working at West Side Care in West Frankfort.
“I asked her if any of the pictures were lewd in content,” Popetz said, “and she said it was just a picture of a patient that she enjoyed taking care of and was not lewd in any way.”
When asked again if she had ever taken any pictures at Coleman Tri-County she said she may have of coworkers with the possibility of patients being in the background but did not recall any specific time.
Popetz asked Rutherford if she had ever let anyone borrow her phone and she said she had but it had been a few months prior.
Said it was a joke
“I showed Ms. Rutherford the picture that was on her phone and asked how it got there,” Popetz said. “She acted surprised at first but later stated that she had taken the picture as a joke and thought she had deleted it from her phone.”
Popetz asked Rutherford if she would be willing to fill out a voluntary statement.
“She refused and stated that she would rather consult an attorney,” Popetz said.
She was then taken downstairs to the county detention center.
Kerry D. Rutherford, 52, was formally charged with one count of Child Pornography.
Although the age of NW is said to be over the age of 25, Illinois child pornography law includes “any severely or profoundly intellectually disabled person… depicted or portrayed in any pose, posture or setting involving a lewd exhibition of the unclothed or transparently clothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks…”
“In a day and time when a lot of people just don’t want to get involved and turn the other way we praise the honesty, responsibility and professionalism shown by the staff at Coleman Tri-County for bringing the situation to the attention of authorities,” said one law enforcement source.
Rutherford was housed in the county jail on $2,500 cash bond.
A preliminary hearing has been set for May 15 at 1 p.m.