Volusia Rehab Center Worker Arrested For Molesting Teen
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- The Volusia County
Sheriff’s Office has arrested a former child specialist following
accusations that he molested a teenage client at the residential addiction
treatment program where the man worked.
The defendant, 34-year-old Corey Hodges,
was fired by Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare after the allegations
surfaced earlier this month. While no other criminal offenses were uncovered
during the investigation, other teenage girls at the program told law enforcement that Hodges
was a pervert who would stare at their bodies, make inappropriate sexual
comments and purposely drop things so that he could watch them bend over to
pick them up. Hodges is facing one charge each of lewd or
lascivious molestation and lewd or lascivious conduct.
The victim is a
15-year-old girl who is a client at the RAP, or Residential Adolescent Program
run by Stewart-Marchman-Act. Hodges started working at the Daytona Beach facility in February.
Earlier
this month, the girl disclosed that Hodges had allegedly molested her two times last
month while she was in her room at the RAP program. On both occasions, the
victim said Hodges touched her breasts under her shirt and also rubbed her over
her clothes and kissed her on the lips.
Both times, she said that Hodges told her
not to tell anyone about it. On a third occasion, the girl said that after she
broke her finger playing football, Hodges drove her to the hospital. On the way
back, the victim said that Hodges rubbed her thigh and told her to pull up her
shorts, but she refused and nothing more happened.
Investigators with the
Volusia County Sheriff’s Office’s Sex Crimes Unit interviewed other teenage girls
at the program. One, a 17-year-old, told investigators that Hodges would ask
her for hugs, made comments about other girls’ bodies and talked about
beating up a boy she was dating because Hodges was jealous.
An 18-year-girl
said Hodges told her that she should be a stripper because she had a nice body.
And a 14-year-old girl revealed to investigators that while going through heroin
withdrawal, Hodges ordered her to get out of her bed even though she told him
that she was naked. She got up and tried to cover herself with a blanket, but
she said that Hodges ordered her to drop it.
During questioning by
investigators, Hodges -- who lives in Palm Coast, Florida
-- denied the allegations. Surveillance video from inside the facility showed
Hodges going into one of the girls’ rooms, in violation of staff
policies. He also violated their policies when he drove the girl to the
hospital instead of having a female employee do it.
On Monday, investigators with the Sheriff’s
Office’s Sex Crimes Unit obtained an arrest warrant for Hodges. He was
arrested Tuesday by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and transported
to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona
Beach, where he’s being held on $60,000 bond.
Any other victims or
anyone with information about Hodges is asked to call the Sheriff’s
Office’s Sex Crimes Unit at (386) 323-3574.