Former Florence Crittenton therapist charged with sex crime involving patient
Editor's note: A jury found Julie Herron not guilty on Oct. 28, 2022. That story can be read here.
A Topeka woman faces a criminal charge alleging she had sexual relations with a patient while she worked in 2015 as a therapist for Florence Crittenton Services.
Shawnee County Jail records show Julie Elizabeth Herron, 51, was booked at 8:36 p.m. Wednesday into the jail on an outstanding Shawnee County District Court warrant charging her with a felony count of having unlawful sexual relations with a patient who is 16 or older.
Herron then was released at 10:20 p.m. Wednesday after a bondsman posted a $10,000 bond, according to jail records.
Shawnee County District Court records indicate Herron’s alleged victim filed a pending, four-count civil lawsuit Jan. 2 against Herron and her former employer, Florence Crittenton Services of Topeka, Inc., a nonprofit residential treatment facility for at-risk girls and young women at 2649 S.W. Arrowhead Road.
The victim was a patient at Crittenton, where Herron initially provided her normal one-on-one therapy services “but the relationship evolved into kissing, touching, mutual masturbation and sexual intercourse,” the lawsuit petition said.
It indicated that:
• The relationship lasted from April 23, 2015, to July 6, 2015.
• Herron misrepresented the sexual intercourse as being part of the victim’s therapy.
• Although residents were not supposed to leave the facility, Herron several times took the victim away from the Crittenton premises.
• At least once, Herron rented a motel room and raped the victim there.
• The victim eventually left Crittenton and moved to California to live with relatives.
• Herron continued after that point to have telephone and text message contact with the victim.
• The victim has been diagnosed with traumatic stress order and major depressive disorder.
Court records show a pre-trial hearing in the civil case is set to be held May 5, 2021, which will be Herron’s 52nd birthday.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Former Florence Crittenton therapist charged with sex crime involving patient
