EX-COUNSELOR FOUND INNOCENT OF STATUTORY RAPE

JACKSON -- A former counselor with the state Division of Youth Services was found innocent of charges of sodomy and statutory rape by a jury on Tuesday.

The former counselor, Chea V. Hale of Cape Girardeau, told jurors that a 17-year-old boy under her supervision had fabricated stories about sexual encounters between the two in December 1998. He was upset with her after she turned down his advances, she said.

It took the jury an hour and 15 minutes to reach its verdict.

The boy had been admitted to the juvenile detention home at 609 N. Middle in June 1998 for a probation violation. Hale had worked with the boy as a tutor and "tracker," a Division of Youth Services employee who works with juveniles preparing to leave detention.

Both the boy and another 17-year-old in the detention facility had reasons to lie about her accuser having sexual relations with Hale in December 1998, said Albert Lowes, Hale's attorney.

"They weren't there for missing Sunday school three weeks in a row," Lowes said. "One boy said the only thing he could do well is retaliate."

One boy had testified in court that he had seen Hale and the other boy kissing and fondling each other during group trips to parks and the mall.

Lowes alleged that both boys were trying to gain an early release from the detention home by fabricating a story about Hale. "They know how to play the system every way they can," Lowes said.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said that although some jurors had said they were inclined to find Hale guilty, the prosecution didn't prove that sexual activity had occurred beyond a reasonable doubt.

"It's a very high standard, and the prosecution is obliged to uphold it," said Swingle.

Swingle still believes that two letters written by Hale to the boy are sufficient evidence. In a letter signed "your one true love," Hale wrote: "Every morning I open my eyes there is one thing missing and that is you. I really (sic) hope that we can be as one."

Hale had told the court that her love for the boy was as a Christian, not as a boyfriend.

"She's a serious Catholic," Lowes said. "If the boy had any decency he would respect that."

Lori Blattner, a supervisor at the detention home, told jurors that Hale had told her how she had "relieved" the boy in a room in the basement of the detention home. In her testimony, Hale said Blattner had left out words from their conversation, which was that she had "relieved his anxiety." This had nothing to do with an allegation of sexual contact, which Blattner had assumed, Hale said.