CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – A former counselor at an Iowa youth treatment facility has agreed to a plea deal amid allegations that she abused a teenage patient and eventually gave birth to his child.
According to KWWL and KCRG, 30-year-old Danielle Hook pleaded guilty this week to charges of third-degree sexual abuse and sexual exploitation by a counselor in connection with the alleged incidents, which began in July 2017, authorities said.
Linn County court documents said Hook, of Marion, was a youth counselor for a Four Oaks child welfare facility when she had an “improper sexual relationship” with a 14-year-old resident there, KCRG reported.
After Hook was fired from her post, investigators later learned that she and the boy were living together while court officials were looking for the teen, the news outlets reported. Authorities, citing evidence from a DNA test, said Hook also became pregnant and gave birth to the victim’s child, according to court documents.
Prosecutors are recommending that Hook be sentenced to probation and 10 years on the sex offender registry, KWWL reported.
