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Therapist accused of molesting underage patient
Daytona Beach police officers arrested a therapist accused of sexually molesting an underage patient he was counseling at a clinic in Palm Coast.
PALM COAST, Fla. - Daytona Beach police officers arrested a therapist accused of sexually molesting a teenage girl he was counseling.
During the first appearance on Thursday, a judge denied him bond.
Investigators said the 16-year-old victim had been seeing 60-year-old Robert Batie for the past five months at Palm Coast Counseling where he was treating her for anxiety.
The victim told investigators Batie molested her during a counseling session in late June.
"This is the worst fear that anyone can have come true when you go to a therapist or any kind of professional or provider," said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said his employment at the company "coincidentally ended" that same week.
Batie’s biography on the website said he was a "Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Addiction Professional with more than a decade in the helping profession." The page was removed from the website Wednesday.
After investigating alongside the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Flagler County alerted Daytona Beach police officers of his new place of employment at Aza Health, where he was arrested on Tuesday evening.
He was booked into the Volusia County Jail before being transferred to Flagler County Wednesday morning where he remains without bond.
The Sheriff’s Office said there is no evidence suggesting more victims; however, sheriff Staly worries there could be.
"Pretty unlikely in these type of cases that he got caught the first time he did something like this, so my speculation would be that we have other victims out there that maybe are afraid to say anything," he said.
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