Counselor accused of rape

By RALPH BARTHOLDT

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — A 43-year-old Coeur d’Alene mental health counselor accused of having sex with a teenage patient for more than a year is charged with rape and sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult.

Jeffrey Worley, a Kootenai Behavioral Health therapist, was charged and bailed out of the Kootenai County Jail Friday after a First District Magistrate Judge set his bond at $100,000.

Prosecutors asked for a $200,000 bond based on the accusations, while Worley’s attorney, Robyn McPherson, asked that her client be released on his own recognizance.

The defendant has been a counselor for 18 years, has no criminal history, and has limited resources, McPherson said. In addition, Worley has a family and his wife is willing to help in his defense.

“This allegation is based on statements,” McPherson said. “There are no other allegations in his career.”

Prosecutors said they were in the process of securing a search warrant for Worley’s office because they feared he would destroy evidence.

Allegations

Worley is accused of starting an affair two years ago with a 17-year-old patient, and having sex “hundreds of times” with the girl at his Ironwood Drive office while she was a juvenile and after she turned 18, according to the alleged victim, who is now 19 years old.

The relationship started with non-sexual “spooning” in the dark as part of the teen’s therapy, according to police reports, graduating to sexual intercourse over the course of a year.

When the alleged victim — who is diagnosed with major depressive disorders with psychological features, borderline personality disorder and clinical anxiety, according to a report — tried to break off the relationship, Worley threatened suicide, police reports say. The relationship that began in 2016 continued until the summer of 2017.

“The counseling sessions stopped being counseling sessions and became what she described as sex sessions,” Officer Alex Mauri wrote in a report. “The majority of the sexual encounters occurred on the floor in Jeffrey’s office …”

The counseling sessions and later meetings often involved alcohol, police said.

“He would buy her alcohol whenever she wanted it,” according to a report.

After she broke off the relationship, Worley “randomly appeared at her graduation party, at her parents’ house,” according to the report. “This was alarming …”

When she moved to the Landings in Coeur d’Alene, she realized that Worley had rented an apartment directly across from hers, she told police. She came forward because she didn’t want Worley to victimize others, according to statements the alleged victim made to police.

In considering bond, Senior Judge Robert J. Caldwell said he balanced the seriousness of the charges with Worley’s lack of a record and his long-term residency in Kootenai County.

“He has been in the area most of his life,” Caldwell said.

He denied releasing Worley from jail and signed a no-contact order. An Aug. 2 preliminary hearing has been scheduled.