Draper pleads not guilty to child abuse, aggravated assault

Published on Thursday, July 27, 2006 4:23 PM MST

Also faces drug charges, state board of nursing investigation

By Adam Gaub, Assistant Editor

Accused child abuser Dustin Draper pleaded not guilty to four counts of child abuse and four counts of aggravated assault in Superior Court on Tuesday.

Draper, 34, faces additional charges of possession of prescription drugs and possession of narcotic drugs, charges which were filed by Graham County Attorney Kenneth Angle after Tuesday's hearing.

Draper was arrested July 8 after Safford Police officers were called by his girlfriend, who discovered a video tape of Draper beating and tormenting her 3-year-old daughter. The videotape showed Draper wake up the sleeping toddler and slap her repeatedly, tape her mouth shut, spray her in the face with water and mock and curse at her.

The investigation by Safford Police turned up videos on Draper's cell phone that also showed him tormenting the same 3-year-old girl. One of the videos was labeled in the phone as "smack off" and shows the girl crying as Draper slaps her and pushes her.

Draper's attorney, Wendell Hughes, concerned for the well-being of his client, told Judge R. Douglas Holt of "death threats that have made the air on at least one TV station." Hughes did not request a reduction of Draper's $30,000 bond.

The eight initial counts Draper faces are not prison mandatory charges, Angle said.

"There was no blood, no broken bones," he said.

Because the toddler's injuries were not more severe, the charges against Draper are not as serious as they could have been, Safford Police Detective Jason Knight said.

"If he would have seriously injured her, the charges would have been a class 2 felony," Knight said.

The toddler was initially interviewed by Safford Police Detective Diane Thomas, who said despite the traumatic events, the 3-year-old seemed to be "a happy little girl."

"In our experience with kids like this, they usually block it out," Thomas said. "She said he is 'far, far away, and he can't hurt me anymore.'"

In addition to the court charges he faces, Draper, a registered nurse, is under investigation for misconduct.

Valerie Smith, the associate director of complaints and investigations for the Arizona State Board of Nursing, said the complaint against Draper was opened for investigation on July 12, four days after his initial arrest July 8.

Draper worked as a nurse for Infinia at Safford Inc., a long-term care facility located at 1933 Peppertree Drive. Draper quit Inifinia on June 29, according to a press release issued by Infinia spokesperson Zach Gibson.

Gibson said because of the investigation by the State Board of Nursing, there was little he could say about Draper's employment with Infinia.

Gibson did say, however, "during his (Draper's) employment at the care center, administration had no knowledge of wrongdoing or harm to residents or staff."

Smith said Draper began as a certified nursing assistant in 1995 before becoming certified as a registered nurse in 2004.

Being convicted of a felony would result in the revocation of Draper's nursing license, Smith said, although the decision could be appealed.

The misconduct investigation, which Smith said could take up to six months, will continue during Draper's legal proceedings.

The next stage in those proceedings is a pretrial conference scheduled for Aug. 22 at 10 a.m.

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Comments

14 comment(s)

Genevieve wrote on Oct 22, 2009 7:59 PM:

" I visited this spot in 2001 and had a wonderful time, in the two weeks I was there I greatly enjoyed the spring, the people and hiking in the surrounding area. The time I spent here was the highlight of my winter adventure. I played dominoes, drank tequila and picked up pretty rocks (and soaked in the spring of course!) It sounds like some terrible things have happened since and it's a shame that it's now closed. I would have loved to have seen it again. "

Tricia Wenzl wrote on Sep 20, 2008 4:32 PM:

" Re: Eve Batchelder murder-2006. I personally knew Eve as did many of my other co-workers and we were appalled that her confessed murderer was allowed to plead to a lesser charge (obviously) to escape the death penalty. This was a pre-meditated murder and kidnapping, resulting in the death of a wonderful, gentle soul not to mention leaving her two children without their mother! Jason Martinez does not deserve to live at the expense of the taxpayers with the chance that he could be paroled! Society cannot afford to be "soft" for the fear of peer pressure. "

ciara wrote on Jul 17, 2008 9:06 PM:

" hi i would like to know what time the pool opens "

Warnar Moll Amsterdam The Netherlands wrote on Jul 14, 2008 11:20 AM:

" I agree with Rustom Kevala.
In literature there are many scientific indications that the preparation of the sacred liquid (Haoma),could not contain a Hallucinogen-Entheogen drug (cf publications of Harry Falk, Jan Houben, Frits Staal and the late Mary Boyce).
As a plant-physiologist and toxicologian, I did some study about the preparation of Parahom (as described in Avesta). From the scientic point of view it is impossible that the sacred drink is hallucinogen.
I do not understand the arguments of the Pima's Church of Cognizance.
It is as stupid as the assert: Jesus used Marihuana. "

tom wrote on Apr 19, 2008 3:15 PM:

" if having someone go through something like especially a child is not an invasion of privacy then nothing is but then thats the 9th circus for you "

F THE SYSTEM!!! wrote on Feb 14, 2008 9:15 AM:

" Who cares about ibuprofen anyways! its just a pill that peopel take for headaches and aches who cares about what the school system. If someone suffers from chronic headaches and stuff like that they should be allowed to carry it around. IT was a bad thing to distribute it around to others, but they should be able to keep it anyway. Its not like teachers are all that willing to let students out of the classroom just because of a headache!!! SMS should be sued. Strip searching a student like that should NOT BE ALLOWED!!!! "

LaVae McClellan wrote on Feb 5, 2008 1:51 PM:

" Eric and Kevin Yazzie are my brothers, they always will be. Yeah its true they had a history of fighting, but thats all u see. The Eric and Kevin i know are happy and fun loving, make everybody laugh. I miss kevin, but theres nothing we can do for him now. As for Eric they need to let my brother go already "

joe tapia wrote on Dec 9, 2007 8:05 PM:

" I have spent half of my life in this canyon along with my cusion juan luepke and I would like to know what threats to the public that our gate is causing. there is another way into the canyon then through our property. Just before you get to the cobra guest ranch on klondyke rd take the tully springs\old aravaipa town turn follow for about 4 miles there is a side road just after the second cattle guard the road turns east you have to open a few gates but there not locked. "

JOE TAPIA wrote on Dec 9, 2007 12:11 AM:

" THE ROAD THAT EVERY ONE HAS USED FOR THE LAST 20-30 YEARS, Is owned by my family. as I have been told to me by my father that the b.l.m and nature conseverency asked to use our road because their easement down by the river kept getting washed out by floods.So when norma put the gate up the b.l.m asked the conservency to redo the road by the river again conservency said no way. By,joe tapia "

Katelynn Nichols wrote on Dec 7, 2007 5:34 PM:

" Clifford Bea Fowler is My uncle ans my cousin Kelci's dad he may be a white supremeist but he still loves his daughter.But he should be held responsible for his actions. "

Stephen wrote on Nov 30, 2007 8:57 AM:

" My thoughts and prayer's go out to the late Bobby Bell's family. "

SMSmom wrote on Nov 9, 2007 12:11 PM:

" I will be notified if my child is in so much trouble that he may need to be stripped searched. "Depending on circumstances"--NO I WILL BE NOTIFIED!!! TRY ME!!! "

Keisha wrote on Oct 27, 2007 8:03 PM:

" I'm sure if these guys were a threat to society action would of been taken. I'm not condoning such behavior but Linda sounds like she's up to no good. "

linda wrote on Oct 26, 2007 11:59 AM:

" Is there any way to post the photos of these molesters "in" the schools so that the children and school staff may detect any possible molesters? After all they are the ones who would most likely see them. "

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