Hunter
03/19/21
A former youth counselor at Four Oaks in Cedar Rapids has pleaded guilty to charges of sexually abusing and exploiting a 14-year-old boy.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that 29-year-old Danielle Hook, who faced up to 15 years in prison initially, reached a plea deal with prosecutors. On Thursday, a Sixth Judicial District Senior judge accepted the pleas, and ordered that Hook register as a sex offender for ten years. Because of the nature of the offenses, she faces lifetime parole as well.
As part of the agreement, prosecutors will recommend that Hook be sentenced to probation. The charge of harboring a runaway will be dismissed at sentencing.
Hook is accused of having sexual contact with the boy between July of 2017 and November of 2018 while she was employed at the Cedar Rapids facility. She allegedly had sex with him in January of 2019 and harbored him while he was 15 years old in February of 2019.
Investigators say after Hook was fired from Four Oaks, the boy was living with her in Marion. She also fathered the boy’s child. The boy is now 16. The Gazette discovered another underage boy was involved with Hook. A 17-year-old who was roommates with the 14-year-old told investigators that the two had sex with Hook in the basement of a cottage at Four Oaks, and after his release from the facility stayed at Hook’s mobile home on the weekends, along with the 14-year-old. Both boys were at Hook’s residence when authorities executed a search warrant.
Judge Robert Sosalla set sentencing for May 18th.