Youth counselor at Hillsborough group home performed sex acts on minor, deputies say
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A youth counselor at a Brandon group home was arrested Friday after deputies say she performed sex acts on a minor who lived there. Katherine Sticklin, 28, was a youth counselor at A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay when she contacted a foster child at the home on Snapchat, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Sticklin sent the child “explicit images and discussed wanting to perform sexual acts with him,” the news release states. Sticklin continued to “pressure the child into sexual activity” after he blocked her on social media, at one point going into a shared men’s bathroom while he was alone and performing sexual acts on him, according to the sheriff’s office. “The crimes committed by this woman are vile and cruel,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in the news release.
“She should be ashamed of taking advantage of someone she was trusted to care for and mentor. I hope he is able to begin healing knowing this woman is behind bars. ” Sticklin is facing charges of lewd or lascivious touching of a minor and unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Records show she was being held at the Falkenburg Road Jail without bond.