A former therapist at a central Iowa high school has been sanctioned by the state for allegedly using a minor to sell illegal drugs.
According to state records, Johnny Hunley, 50, of Des Moines, has worked since 2017 as a counselor at Sequel Care, a community-based service in Woodward. While working for WCBS, Hunley provided medical services to middle school and high school students. Central Iowa.
Last August, WCBS filed a complaint that Hunley provided marijuana to a student customer. WCBS conducted an investigation which concluded that Hanley violated several laws and standards by engaging with a client outside of therapy, selling marijuana to a minor, and not respecting the boundaries between herself, as a therapist, and as a client.
Hunley was fired and WCBS filed a complaint with the Iowa Board of Social Work regarding Hunley’s relationship with the student. In October, board records show, the student told police she began seeing Hunley for therapy when she was in seventh grade in 2015 or 2016. For several years, the student continued to see Hunley for therapy, though no records exist. After the girl enters high school in 2018, she will be protected from any treatment sessions.
The student began smoking marijuana with Hanley in ninth grade, outside of school and sometimes drinking at Hanley’s house, according to board records.
In the second semester of ninth grade, the student was asked by Hanley to begin delivering marijuana to established “drug clients,” according to board records. Hunley provided the student with a vehicle to deliver and collect payment for the medication.
Relations between Hanley and the student soured the summer before the girl’s sophomore year, according to board records, when the student began selling marijuana to her own friends at Hanley’s request. According to board records, the student told police she was selling marijuana to friends and the “halfway school” she attended. (The school is not identified in publicly available board records.)
In the year In August 2021, the student was hospitalized after overdosing on illegal drugs and her sister told her about her relationship with Hunley, which prompted the complaint to WCBS, according to board records.
As part of the police investigation, authorities reviewed text messages between Hanley and the student, which appeared to discuss the transportation and sale of drugs.
When contacted by police, Hunley allegedly smoked marijuana with the student or solicited the student to sell marijuana, the Board of Social Work said. However, the girl admitted to a non-medical relationship with the student, saying he helped her at a garage sale and once took her to a funeral.
After the Board of Social Work filed disciplinary charges against Hanley, a closed-door hearing was held in May, to which Hanley refused to appear.
While the board dismissed all drug-related charges, Hanley’s text messages to the student “recorded discussions about how much marijuana was being sold, the money owed, the costs of the transaction and other matters.” (Hanley) provided the student with illegal drugs and then recruited the student to participate in buying and selling illegal drugs.
The board said Hanley’s actions were “grossly inappropriate” and illegal and put the student and the general public at risk. The board then voted to revoke Hanley’s Iowa license as an independent social worker.
There is no public record of any criminal charges against Hanle in connection with the alleged drug sales. Hunley could not be reached for comment
