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E. Greenbush nurse sentenced in rape

By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer
Tuesday, February 5, 2008

TROY - A registered nurse found guilty in December of raping a mentally disabled teenager in her care at the teen's East Greenbush home received less than the maximum sentence this morning.
       
Susan A. McDade, 49, of Celeste Drive, East Greenbush, was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in state prison by Rensselaer County Court Judge Robert Jacon.
Assistant District Attorney Christa Book asked for the maximum of 2 1/3 to seven years.
"Ms. McDade still has not accepted responsibility for her actions," Book told Jacon before he announced his sentence. "She still denies any wrongdoing."
After a two-week trial, McDade was found guilty Dec. 18 of second-degree rape and misdemeanor counts of sexual misconduct and endangering the welfare of an incompetent person. She was accused of having sexual contact with the then-17-year old, who has the mental abilities of a 3-year-old, authorities have said.
McDade, a registered nurse, cared for the victim in his home for many years. According to the allegations, a family member who came home unexpectedly found a partially naked McDade in bed with the teenager on Dec. 15, 2005. Prosecutors also presented DNA evidence that supported the relative's account.
McDade's attorney, Andrew Safranko, argued that the woman had worked for the family in their home for eight years and it could be expected that her DNA would be in the home.
Attorney John Aretakis read a victim-impact statement he helped prepare for the victim's mother.
"You worked with us for 18 years and I should have seen the warning signs," Aretakis read from the statement. "The way you ignored your own family's needs to spend more time at our home."
Safranko asked for a sentence of 6 months in jail and 10 years' probation, a sentence the DA offered in a plea deal early in the case.
"They (prosecutors) are asking you to punish her for exercising her Constitutional right to a jury trial during which not one new fact came out that was not known by prosecutors at the time of the plea offering," Safranko said.
Jacon said his decision on sentencing was a difficult one.
"No one is going to leave here happy today," Jacon said. "She (McDade) has generally conducted herself in an admirable way, but she was in a position of trust, a trust that gets violated occasionally, but without these caregivers we can't function as a society."
McDade was handcuffed and taken off to jail as her family wept.
She will be eligible for parole in a year.

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"No one is going to leave here happy today," Jacon said. "She (McDade) has generally conducted herself in an admirable way, but she was in a position of trust, a trust that gets violated occasionally, but without these caregivers we can't function as a society."