Prosecutors: Disabled woman raped by school employee

A Rainier State School employee is accused of raping a severely disabled woman who is a resident at the school’s Buckley campus.

According to the charges, Terry Shepard, 60, was caught by another employee having sex with the 57-year-old woman on Sunday. That employee intervened and notified Buckley police.

“The victim is non-verbal, autistic and has the mental age of about eight years old,” said Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist.

Shepard worked as an attendant counselor at the facility.

DSHS describes the school as “a habilitation center for individuals with developmental disabilities" that houses about 320 adults with a wide variety of abilities and needs.

In a statement released by Evelyn Perez, assistant secretary for the developmental disabilities administration at the Department of Social and Health Services, Shepard has not yet faced disciplinary action, but will likely be fired following his arrest.

“It is absolutely abhorrent that someone would do this to one of our residents,” Perez wrote. “We are grateful for the quick response by the staff member who witnessed this heinous act and took immediate action.”

Shepard pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree rape during arraignment in Pierce County Superior Court on Monday. Bail was set at $500,000.

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