Ex-Iowa youth counselor allowed to withdraw guilty plea

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A former youth counselor who pleaded guilty in March to sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy has been allowed to withdraw the plea after learning the deal she had reached with prosecutors wouldn’t be honored. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that 29-year-old Danielle Hook learned this week that the judge in her case would not grant her suspended prison sentences after she pleaded guilty in March to third-degree sexual abuse and sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. District Judge Chad Kepros said in a filing Wednesday that Hook wasn’t eligible for suspended sentences because she was a mandatory reporter of child abuse and the victim was younger than 18. Kepros said Iowa law would require she serve up to 15 years in prison.