An Oregon Department of Human Services employee has been charged by a federal grand jury with kidnapping and sexually abusing a woman.
The Statesman Journal reports that an indictment returned by a federal grand jury this week says Zakary Glover, 28, of Lebanon, allegedly drove a woman with severe cognitive disabilities to a remote, dead-end road in Aumsville, where he "engaged in sexual misconduct."
The woman has severe autism and “communicated mostly through the use of pictures, videos, and drawings,” according to the indictment.
A grand jury in U.S. District Court in Portland returned the indictment of Glover on Feb. 17, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for Oregon.
Glover is charged with depriving the victim of her constitutional right to bodily integrity, while acting under color of law. The indictment said his conduct included attempted sexual abuse and kidnapping. Glover is also charged with kidnapping.
Glover was a direct crisis support specialist for the department’s Stabilization and Crisis Unit, which operates 24-hour residential care programs throughout Western Oregon.
The program serves about 100 people, providing services that span from “intense crisis-level support needs to lower levels of care that more closely match what is available in community-based placements,” according to DHS.
In a statement, DHS said Glover is no longer an employee.
“The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), the Office of Developmental Disabilities Services (ODDS) and the Stabilization and Crisis Unit (SACU) condemn all acts of abuse and take all allegations of abuse seriously,” the statement said.
Glover faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. An attempt to locate an attorney for Glover wasn’t immediately successful.
