Counselor Admits Having Sex With Boy 31-Year-Old Woman Pleads Guilty To Child Rape; Treatment To Be Recommended, Prosecutor Says
She was supposed to straighten out troubled youths, not seduce them.
But Shelly Varnell, a counselor at a North Idaho home for juvenile offenders, broke the unwritten rule.
She repeatedly had sex with a 15-year-old boy, bouncing around motels between the Spokane Valley and Seattle.
Before a judge Thursday, Varnell admitted having sex with the boy and pleaded guilty as charged to third-degree child rape.
“It’s just an inexplicable lack of judgment,” said her lawyer, Peter Erbland.
The 31-year-old Varnell has no prior criminal record.
She had been employed for the past two years as a part-time substance abuse counselor at Anchor House, a residential treatment program for a dozen boys in Coeur d’Alene. After confessing to the crime, she resigned.
Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Dave Hearrean said he will recommend sex-offender treatment if evaluators find her to be a willing participant.
Otherwise, she faces a standard-range sentence of 12 to 14 months in prison.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3.
Varnell was accompanied in court by her husband, Rick. Both declined to comment afterward.
The Spokane Valley couple recently decided to become foster parents and applied for a license through the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
They went through interviews and background checks and were granted permission to bring the 15-year-old boy to their North Linden home on a nine-day trial.
On June 1, during a second trial period, Shelly Varnell twice had sex with the boy in her home - early in the morning when her husband was sleeping, and again after he left for work, authorities said.
The two then drove to the Super 8 Motel on Argonne Road and had sex again. The next day, they drove to Seattle and had sex in two more motel rooms.
Officials at Anchor House became worried when the youth failed to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge. They called Rick Varnell, who said he had no idea where they were.
On June 4, Shelly Varnell called her parents to divulge what had happened and returned to Spokane with the boy.
“It floored all of our staff,” said Mike Jones, president of the Idaho Youth Ranch, which oversees Anchor House.
Jones said treatment in lieu of prison seems appropriate.
“I don’t believe any 31-year-old married family woman would do something like that in her right state of mind,” he said.
Following the incident, Jones said board members adopted a policy prohibiting Anchor House employees from trying to adopt or become foster parents to resident youths.
“I don’t want this error to happen again,” he said. “This erodes trust.”
Hearrean said the boy, who called the sex spree consensual, is doing well.
“He’s very relieved that this is over, and he doesn’t have to testify,” the prosecutor said.
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