A Michigan counselor who had sex with one of her clients has been sentenced to five years’ probation, PEOPLE confirms.
Rachele Johnson, 26, pleaded guilty last week to misconduct in office, furnishing a cell phone to a prisoner and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Authorities say Johnson, who was a counselor at the House of Commons, a court-mandated treatment center, had sex with a man who was being treated at the facility in 2017.
Ingham County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Lisa McCormick said that because Johnson worked as a mental health employee for the county, her clients could not give consent, the Lansing State Journal reports.
Johnson will also have to register as a sex offender and enter therapy as part of her sentence, according to the paper.
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The judge in her case said no evidence showed that she used her position to get sex but, nonetheless, what she did was detrimental to the facility’s mission, the State Journal reports.
Johnson had also been charged with harboring escapees, providing contraband in prison and six counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct — which included an accusation involving a second man — but those charges were dropped, according to prosecutors.
During an earlier preliminary hearing, the victim testified that he spent time with Johnson in the property room, which had no video surveillance, and Johnson lied about a doctor’s appointment so they could spend time outside of the facility together.
Johnson’s defense attorney could not be reached for comment on Monday.
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