The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) will be taking swift disciplinary action – up to and including termination – against a Rainier School employee who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a resident early Sunday morning.
Terry Shepard, 60, an attendant counselor at the school, was arrested Sunday and was being detained in the Pierce County Jail on second-degree rape charges, pending a court hearing Monday afternoon. Another attendant counselor, who quickly intervened when she witnessed the alleged incident, also immediately notified school officials and law enforcement.
“It is absolutely abhorrent that someone would do this to one of our residents,” said Evelyn Perez, Assistant Secretary of DSHS Developmental Disabilities Administration, which operates Rainier School. “We are grateful for the quick response by the staff member who witnessed this heinous act and took immediate action.”
The resident was treated at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup and her guardian was notified about the incident Sunday by the school and by law enforcement.
DSHS is fully cooperating with the Buckley Police Department and the Washington State Patrol in their investigations.
Rainier School, located in Buckley, is a habilitation center for individuals with developmental disabilities. It is home to about 320 adults with a wide variety of abilities and needs and provides 24-hour residential care, vocational training and employment, recreational facilities and other programs designed to work with residents to enhance self-determination and maximize independence.