Your support helps us to tell the story
A youth counselor at a foster care facility is accused of performing sexual acts on a teen and now faces criminal charges.
On Friday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Florida announced the arrest of Katherine Stricklin, 28. She was charged with lewd or lascivious touching of a minor - 16 or 17 years of age by a person 24 years of age and older, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
On September 11, sheriff’s detectives began an investigation into the alleged misconduct by Stricklin.
A child at A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay said Stricklin started a conversation with him via Snapchat. In the chat, she sent explicit images and discussed wanting to perform sexual acts on him.
The minor blocked Stricklin on social media, but she continued to pressure him into sexual activities, according to authorities.
She even went into a men’s bathroom while he was alone and began to perform a sex act on him, investigators said.
"The crimes committed by this woman are vile and cruel," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. "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.”
Stricklin is now being held in jail without bond.
