Hillside counselor suspended after mother accuses him of having inappropriate relationship with son

Posted at: 07/25/2012 11:05 PM | Updated at: 07/25/2012 11:39 PM
By: Amanda Ciavarri | WHEC.com

News 10NBC has learned that a Hillside counselor has been suspended after a mother accused that counselor of having an inappropriate relationship with her 15-year-old son.

The mother, who lives in Greece, came to News 10NBC with conversations she found between the two on her son’s Facebook page and gaming system. She says they were talking about drinking, smoking marijuana, and having sex with women.

Greece Police completed their investigation Wednesday. They said they couldn’t prove criminal activity occurred, and now the situation is in the hands of Hillside.

The mother says that the situation may not be criminal, but it is disturbing to think a counselor would interact with a teenager this way. The conversations the mother showed News 10NBC are so graphic we can’t show them to you or even describe them. We have hidden the mother’s identity to protect her son.

She says her son became friends with the counselor while at Hillside for behavioral issues. He was there from October until June. When he came back home, it wasn’t long before she started to wonder about the relationship between the two.

“My son started seeing him more and more,” she said. “It started to get a little suspicious because I’m thinking, why would you want to spend all your free time off of work with him? It's a little strange of a relationship.”

The mother said she then looked through her son’s Facebook and found what she says are troubling conversations. She printed them out and showed them to us. On the paper, we see a Facebook account the mother says belongs to the counselor, and his writing on her son’s wall speaks of talking about having sex with women. The mother says she then went through her son’s Play Station and found more conversations. She says one of those conversations, from when her son was at Hillside, shows the counselor telling him, “Don’t come back so high this time.” The mother says there are also conversations about the two talking about drinking and smoking marijuana.

“Totally inappropriate comments to be said to a 15-year-old when you are a Hillside counselor,” she said.

The mother did confront her son about finding the conversations and says he wouldn’t tell her anything. A few days later, she says she found conversations where the counselor asked if the teen’s mom knew about him.

The teen said, “She read some stuff on my PS3. I still want to get drunk on your bday, 28th.”

The counselor replies, “But does she know about me though?”

In another conversation on Facebook, the teen writes to the counselor, “I need to get wasted.”

The counselor replies, “Soon enough hopefully. What does your mom know?”

The mother says she was so outraged that someone she trusted to help her son could be doing this.

“I called up my family and said this guy is so nice, this is what my son needs – a positive male role model. His father wasn’t one. I even said that straight to him. It made me sick.”

After finding these conversations, the mother called Hillside right away to report the man. Hillside released this statement to us:

"An employee of Hillside Children's Center has been suspended upon notification of alleged inappropriate conduct. Hillside Children's Center remains committed to the safety and security of our clients and staff..."

“As far as I’m concerned,” the mother said, “if he’s not abusing him, he’s endangering his welfare. He’s putting him at risk.”

Police say there will be no charges against the counselor. They are now leaving this in the hands of Hillside.

Hillside also tells us whenever there is a serious accusation like this against one of its employees, the organization conducts an internal investigation. In some cases, the state is also called in.

Hillside says its investigation is ongoing, and it confirmed Wednesday that the counselor is still suspended.

For more Rochester, NY news, go to our website, www.whec.com.
 

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