Update: Former EMT found not guilty, all charges dismissed
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – A Hendersonville man has been charged with sexual battery by an authority figure after he allegedly attempted to force a woman to perform oral sex in an ambulance.
According to an arrest warrant, Clarksville police were dispatched to Alfred Thun Rd. in Clarksville on March 10 to investigate. An EMT for a private ambulance company was transporting a patient from a facility in Antioch, TN to a hospital in Caldwell County, Ky.
The suspect, 20-year-old Samuel Rutherford, was also employed by the same private ambulance company and was in the back of the vehicle with the female patient. The victim told police that Rutherford made her perform oral sex on him without her consent, according to the warrant.
The warrant also says Rutherford told officers he was in the back of the ambulance with the patient when he turned off the cabin light, placed a backpack in the open area between the driver and the rear of the vehicle, and placed his genitals on the victim’s mouth.
He was charged with sexual battery by an authority figure and his bond was set at $100,000. Court records show a motion was filed to reduce his bond, stating that he has no criminal record and this is his first arrest.
The motion says Rutherford’s parents, who are “longstanding members of the bar of the State of Tennessee,” offered to make his bond if strict conditions of release were enforced. The potential conditions listed include house arrest, treatment, and frequent drug testing.