Specialist, 60, at facility for adults with mental disabilities pleads guilty to raping two clients and getting them both pregnant
- Bernard Betts-King, 60, pleaded guilty to raping two women ‘through use of their mental capacity’ on Tuesday in Springfield, Virginia
- The rapes occurred while he was working as a behavior technician at an organization that provides therapeutic and work opportunities to disabled adults
- One victim learned she was pregnant in October 2017 and gave birth in February
- She was unable to identify her attacker so the case went cold for months
- In October 2018 another woman gave birth and named Betts-King as the rapist
- DNA tests confirmed there is a 99 percent chance Betts-King was the father
- Police linked Betts-King to the first victim and believe he also fathered her child
- Betts-King allegedly told investigators that the women ‘came on to him’
- Prosecutors say both victims have the intellectual ability of children and neither had been taught about sex
Bernard Betts-King, 60, a behavior technician at a facility for adults with disabilities in Virginia, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to raping two clients and getting them both pregnant
A specialist at a facility for adults with disabilities has pleaded guilty to raping two clients and getting them both pregnant.
Bernard Betts-King, 60, was charged with raping two women ‘through use of their mental capacity’ while he was working as a behavior technician at MLVE Community Center, an organization in Springfield, Virginia, that provides therapeutic and work opportunities to disabled adults.
The first victim found out she was pregnant in October 2017 but was unable to name her attacker, according to court documents.
The intellectually-disabled woman of Korean descent gave birth to a biracial baby the following February.
Police say they didn’t have enough information narrow the list of possible suspects down and conduct paternity tests, so the case went cold.
Nine months later another woman in the program gave birth to a baby and identified Betts-King as the man who raped her.
Betts-King was charged with raping two women ‘through use of their mental capacity’ between 2017 and 2018. When confronted about the rapes earlier this year, Betts-King allegedly told investigators that the intellectually-disabled women ‘came on to him’
MLVE Community Center is an organization that provides therapeutic and work opportunities to disabled adults in Springfield, Virginia. Staff at the facility (pictured) said they were shocked to learn that Betts-King had raped two of the clients he worked with
DNA tests confirmed that there is a 99 percent chance Betts-King fathered the second victim’s baby.
Police then linked Betts-King to the first victim and believe he fathered her child as well.
When confronted with the evidence, Betts-King allegedly told investigators that the women ‘came on to him’.
Prosecutors say both victims have the intellectual ability of children and neither had been taught about sex.
Betts-King pleaded guilty to both rapes on Tuesday and is scheduled for sentencing in November.
Police say he may have assaulted other victims while working at MLVE and at another organization, Community Living Alternatives, in Fairfax.
MLVE previously said the organization is cooperating with police, and that it no longer employs Betts-King.
MLVE Executive Director Susan Keenan said staff at the organization were shocked to learn of the rapes.
‘We are focused entirely on making sure that our individuals are safe and healthy right now,’ Keenan said.