Caregiver indicted for rape of client

March 06--Caregiver indicted for rape of client

By MARK HAYWARD

New Hampshire Union Leader

March 05. 2018 9:15PM

STERLING JORDAN

MANCHESTER -- A potentially life-threatening sexually transmitted disease has been identified as a deadly weapon in an indictment issued in connection with the rape of an autistic man.

According to a police affidavit, Sterling Jordan, 39, of Manchester was the live-in caregiver of a 26-year-old man, who called his mother right after being attacked. She notified police and said her son has the mental capacity of a 15-year-old.

Jordan, of 39 Mead St., has been charged with reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, a Class B felony. He also faces felony rape charges.

"Certainly it's serious. Any aggravated felonious sexual assault is serious. Its seriousness, obviously, is reflected in the potential punishment," said Hillsborough County Attorney Dennis Hogan, whose office is prosecuting the case.

According to a financial affidavit filed by Jordan, he worked for Community Integrated Services, a Manchester-based company that offers day programs, residential services and community support for people with developmental and other disabilities. Their website says they provide staff to care for people with disabilities in their homes.

A call and email to the state director, Chet Bowen, was not returned Monday.

The reported assault took place on Nov. 6 at the victim's Manchester apartment, the affidavit said. Police arrested Jordan at the apartment; they found him sleeping on a porch. He has been held at Valley Street jail since then. A Hillsborough County grand jury indicted him last month.

The county attorney said it is rare, but not unheard of, to bring deadly weapon charges when someone with a communicable disease infects or tries to infect others. HIV-positive jail inmates have faced deadly weapon-related charges for spitting at corrections officers, Hogan said.

The victim told police he tried to refuse his attacker and several times said no or stop.

The deadly weapon charge alleges: "Jordan recklessly engaged in conduct which placed or may have placed another in danger of serious bodily injury by means of a deadly weapon when Sterling Jordan, knowing he was infected with a deadly virus transmissible to another through unprotected sexual contact, placed (the victim) in danger of becoming infected with the virus ..." the indictment reads.

Anna Zimmerman, a lawyer representing the family, said the victim has been tested for sexually transmitted disease and all results have come back negative. She would not identify the disease.

Jordan faces two rape-related charges, each carrying a prison term of 10 to 20 years. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Hillsborough County Superior Court-North on March 14.

mhayward@unionleader.com

Crime, law and justice Courts Crime Health Manchester

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