|
Therapist helped teen sex
partner escape
October 5, 2006
A former juvenile detention therapist was sentenced to four years in
prison after pleading guilty to helping a 15-year-old boy escape and
having an extended sexual affair with him.
Tiffany Daddino of Chicago pleaded
guilty Wednesday in Lake County Circuit Court to the charges.
Besides the prison sentence,
Daddino, 27, was sentenced by Judge James Booras to pay $20,000 in
fines, 36 months of probation and psychiatric counseling. She must
serve at least 85 percent of the prison term.
She had been a counselor and
therapist in the Face-It residential treatment program at the
county's Depke-Hulse juvenile facility in Vernon Hills. The boy, 15,
of Zion, was her ward.
Also as part of the sentence,
Daddino is banned from ever working in the human services field. She
can have no contact with the boy, or with any other person 17 or
younger unless approved by the Probation Department. She must
register as a sex offender and undergo a sex offender evaluation
before being released from prison.
She pleaded guilty to criminal
sexual assault, attempted criminal sexual assault and conspiracy to
commit escape. She had faced a maximum sentence of more than 20
years in prison.
The recommended plea and sentence
had been negotiated by prosecutor Patricia Fix and defense attorneys
Christopher Cronson and Daniel Zeit. Booras accepted both
recommendations, along with Daddino's request to put off remand
until Oct. 10.
She must pay $15,000 to the Lake
County Children's Advocacy Center and $5,000 to Lake County
CrimeStoppers.
Fix said Daddino's affair with the
boy extended from April 15 through Oct. 5, 2005. She said Daddino
and the boy had sexual intercourse in her car "on numerous
occasions" before or after she drove him to family therapy sessions
at his home.
During one weekend, when the boy
had a weekend pass to go home, Daddino helped him escape, driving
him to her apartment in Chicago. The boy had earned the pass for
good performance in the Face-It program.
The boy was arrested Oct. 6 by
Chicago police on a street near the apartment on charges of
possession of marijuana. His cell phone and keys were confiscated.
The keys unlocked the door to her apartment.
After the cell phone was turned
over to his mother, a text message appeared from Daddino, expressing
her love and making sexual overtures. In a statement to police, he
described tattoos she has near the genital area; after obtaining a
search warrant, police checked and found the tattooed stars, just as
the boy had described.
"Other witnesses corroborated the
relationship of the defendant and victim," Fix said. "She was aware
of his age, but introduced him to friends as someone who was 22."
Booras said "there are sufficient
facts to support all of the charges."
Outside of court, Fix said, "We
believe this is a just resolution, given the nature of the offenses
and her position of trust. It is unfortunate that this occurred in
the 19th Judicial Circuit.
"Generally, we have a lot of
quality people doing quality work, who work very hard for the best
interest of the children," she added.
Cronson and the Daddino family
declined comment.
|
