Pierceton Woods supervisor accused of sexual misconduct with male teen at treatment center

A new criminal case reveals a youth treatment center supervisor was under investigation for sexual misconduct with a teenage resident at the same time the facility's leaders were pushing for legislation to protect it from most lawsuits filed by victims of sexual abuse.

The case involves a former housing unit supervisor at Pierceton Woods Academy, a northern Indiana residential facility for troubled boys. The criminal charge represents at least the third time since 2019 that police or Indiana Department of Child Services investigators have concluded a staff member abused a resident at the faith-based facility.

Authorities say the supervisor, Dena Sue Patel, 50, of Warsaw, engaged in sexual conduct with a male resident. She is charged with sexual misconduct by a service provider, a felony that carries a prison sentence of one to six years.

Patel could not be reached for comment.

Pierceton Woods provides independent living skills, substance abuse treatment, behavioral therapy and a program for teens who exhibit sexually inappropriate behavior. Most residents are referred to the facility by DCS, the Indiana Department of Correction or county probation departments.

A spokesperson for Pierceton Woods said Monday the facility and its chief executive, Tim Smith, learned of the allegation on April 17. Pierceton Woods immediately alerted DCS and pulled Patel off her shift and suspended her, the spokesperson said.

Court record show a detective with the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Office began investigating on April 19.

The allegation came at a sensitive time for Pierceton Woods. Its parent organization, Lasting Change Inc. — which includes Lifeline Youth & Family Services, one of DCS's largest providers of homebased services for abused and neglected children across the state — was a leading promoter of the immunity legislation at the Statehouse. The proposal would have provided liability protections for child caring institutions and group homes that have contracts with DCS.

The proposal had failed to advance out of a Senate committee, but lawmakers attempted to attach the immunity provision to an unrelated bill as the legislative session drew to a close. They scrapped that plan on April 26, one day after an IndyStar story detailed previous allegations of sexual abuse at the facility.

Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, D-Indianapolis, was one of four lawmakers assigned to hash out a final version of the bill during the closing days of session. She said Pierceton Woods never disclosed there was an active investigation of sexual misconduct at the facility — or that police or DCS had found enough evidence to move forward with previous allegations of sexual abuse involving two other staff members.

"I think that you have an ethical responsibility to disclose conflicts of interest at any time," she said during an interview Monday. "So whether that's in the Statehouse or at your place of business, we are held to that standard of making unbiased decisions and having the whole truth in front of us."

New allegations at Pierceton Woods

The allegations against Patel are not the first time an academy worker has been accused of misconduct with a resident.

Another former employee was accused of child seduction after authorities said she engaged in kissing and groping with a teenage boy in 2020. She pleaded guilty to lesser charges of obscene performance.

A third former employee was the subject of an investigation by the DCS that substantiated allegations she sexually abused a teenage boy in 2019. She has not been charged with any crime, but Pierceton Woods settled a lawsuit filed by the 17-year-old accuser and his father for $72,000 and a promise not to discuss it publicly.

A psychologist hired by the family's attorney said in a report compiled as part of the lawsuit that at least ten other staffers were known or suspected to have sexually abused boys at Pierceton Woods. The facility has denied allegations that it failed to protect minors or that it was aware of and covered up sexual assault allegations.

Police: Patel admitted to 'relationship' in text message

The probable cause affidavit submitted by a Kosciusko County sheriff's detective said the initial report about Patel alleged she entered into a "sexual relationship" with a teen identified only as A.A. on Dec. 12. Patel had been a housing unit supervisor since May 24, 2022, the affidavit said.

During the investigation, the detective said he found that Patel had shared a text message with another employee in which she "admitted to being in a romantic relationship" with the teen. A review of Patel's phone records revealed she also had been texting and speaking to the boy "and that he called her his girlfriend," the affidavit said.

Other residents and staff members told investigators Patel had a pattern of allowing juvenile residents to use her cellular device and access the internet. One juvenile reported that Patel had admitted to having a sexual relationship with A.A., the affidavit said.

Surveillance video showed that Patel used her key fob on her day off to enter A.A.'s building. The camera recorded them walking the grounds together for more than half an hour around 10 p.m. on April 8. During this time, they were off camera alone together two times for 10 to 15 minutes. Patel also used her fob three other times that week to enter A.A.'s building, the affidavit said.

In an interview with investigators, A.A. said he and Patel had a relationship for four to six weeks. He said they took about three or four walks together and would kiss. The affidavit appears to contain other information about the walks, but it is redacted.

Patel declined to give a statement to investigators, the affidavit said.

'If evidence exists, I haven't seen it'

Curtis Smith, a spokesperson for Pierceton Woods, said the resident with whom Patel is alleged to have committed sexual misconduct was 19 at the time. He acknowledged Patel took a walk with the resident outside the view of security cameras, but questioned whether anything sexual took place.

"As far as I know, to this day, there is no physical or video evidence of any sexual misconduct between Ms. Patel and any of our residents," he said. "If evidence exists, I haven’t seen it."

He said the facility established a policy more than a year earlier prohibiting one-on-one engagement between staff and residents, including walks. Both of the previous cases against former staffers involved allegations of abuse during one-on-one walks and other outings.

"The policy protects good actors but cannot forcibly constrain bad actors," Smith said. "I believe that our leadership team was unaware of the walks Ms. Patel took, as they are against our policy."

He did not directly answer questions about whether Lasting Change and Pierceton Woods officials informed lawmakers about the pending allegations as they lobbied for the immunity language. But he said CEO Tim Smith and leadership at Pierceton Woods did not publicly comment on the allegation against Patel, "as not to interfere with or color the investigation."

Contact IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at 317-444-6081 or tony.cook@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @IndyStarTony.