Former Oregon DHS employee pleads guilty in federal court for sexual misconduct

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) —  A former Oregon Department of Human Services employee pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to charges of sexual misconduct against a woman with developmental disabilities. 

A woman with severe autism and cognitive deficits was under the care of 30-year-old Zakary Glover, of Lebanon, Oregon, who violated her constitutional right to bodily integrity, according to a release from the Department of Justice.

Glover was tasked with caretaking individuals to ensure their health and safety at a residential facility where he worked that served people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

As a Direct Support Crisis Specialist for DHS’ Office of Developmental Disabilities Stabilization and Crisis Unit, it was part of Glover’s duties to take people under his care on outings in a fortified state-owned van. 

Under the guise of such an outing, Glover abused her on Nov. 21, 2021, court documents show. The vehicle had child locks, a heavy partition between the front and rear seats and was designed in such a way that the passenger in the back, where the victim was, could not escape.

Glover drove down a dead-end road near the gate of a cemetery in Aumsville, Oregon where he proceeded to “engage in sexual acts with the victim without her consent,” the release said.

Last year, a federal grand jury in Portland charged Glover with kidnapping and attempted aggravated sexual abuse, finding that he violated the victim’s constitutional rights. 

Glover, who will be sentenced on April 30, faces up to a maximum of life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.