Therapist closes Atascadero practice amid sex allegation

[We just came across this story, but it is worth posting all the same]

Michael Cooksey, charged with sexually exploiting a female patient, ‘took advantage of her emotional state,’ says deputy district attorney.

An Atascadero family therapist arrested last week and charged with sexually exploiting a female former patient has closed down his practice and faces arraignment April 28, authorities said Monday.

Michael Cooksey was arrested Friday afternoon by Atascadero police and posted $5,000 bail later that day.

Investigator Frank Root of the state Department of Consumer Affairs said the woman, 46, sought out Cooksey as a therapist in September 2003 after enduring an abusive marriage for years. After three months, Cooksey told her he could no longer be her therapist, Root said.

The following month they began an affair, Root said, which lasted a year. She filed a complaint against Cooksey in September 2005.

Root says that under state guidelines, therapists cannot get intimately involved with their clients until at least two years after they last saw them professionally. Therapists taking advantage of their patients is "something we don’t see that much of," he said. But, he added, it is a "predator-type activity."

Cooksey could not be reached. No one answered the phone at the number listed for his professional office on El Camino Real. His criminal attorney, Jeffrey Stein, said he needs more time to look into the case before commenting.

Mark Connely, an attorney representing Cooksey before the state board, said the therapist has turned in his license.

Paul Riches, executive officer of the state Board of Behavioral Sciences, said he could not comment on the Cooksey case. But he said his board investigates 10 to 15 cases a year involving inappropriate behavior between therapists and patients. Most of those involve alleged sexual misconduct, ranging from inappropriate touching to sexual interaction. If a therapist is convicted of sexual contact, the department will revoke his or her license, Riches said.

County Deputy District Attorney Jerret Gran said Cooksey violated a provision of the state business and professions code.

"He took advantage of her emotional state," he said.

While one case of sexual exploitation is a misdemeanor, two or more is a felony, said Root, the state investigator.