Counselor Sentenced In Child Rape Woman Who Pleaded Guilty To Sex With Teen Receives 14 Months Of Offender Treatment

Three days of sex with a teenaged foster child will keep Shelly Varnell in sex-offender treatment for the next 14 months.

The former North Idaho counselor to troubled youths took the 15-year-old boy on a sex spree that ended in a Seattle motel room.

She tearfully apologized in court Tuesday and was spared prison time.

There was no debate over punishment, unlike most child-abuse cases. The police detective, community corrections officer and prosecutor all agreed Varnell, 31, doesn’t belong behind bars.

“It was just a devastating mistake that she made,” Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Dave Hearrean said afterward.

Varnell’s lawyer, Peter Erbland, previously described the incident as “an inexplicable lack of judgment.”

After confessing to police, Varnell pleaded guilty Aug. 3 to third-degree child rape.

As a first-time sex offender with no prior criminal record, the married Spokane Valley woman was sentenced to outpatient treatment. A 14-month prison term was suspended. If the psychotherapy is successfully completed, she will be placed on probation for three years.

During that period, Superior Court Judge Richard Schroeder barred Varnell from unsupervised contact with children.

“She won’t be put in a position of trust again with minors,” Hearrean said.

The boy, who told police the sex was consensual, did not attend the sentencing.

Varnell demonstrated strong family support, with her husband, Rick, testifying on her behalf.

She has resigned from her two-year, part-time position as a substance abuse counselor at Anchor House, a residential treatment program for delinquent boys in Coeur d’Alene.

The strange drama began the morning of June 1, when Varnell said she twice had sex with the boy in her home. They then headed for Seattle, stopping at motels along the way.

On June 4, she called her parents to explain what had happened and returned to Spokane with the boy.

The Varnells were in the process of becoming foster parents to the youth. He was living in their home on a trial basis.

Following the sex spree, Anchor House employees have been prohibited from trying to adopt or become foster parents to resident youths.

Erbland and Shelly Varnell declined comment Tuesday.

, DataTimes MEMO: IDAHO HEADLINE: Woman sentenced for rape of boy, 15