A former social worker with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics who was previously charged with the sexual exploitation of a patient is now facing two additional sexual exploitation charges related to a different patient.
James Burkhalter (Johnson County Sheriff’s Office)
James Daniel Burkhalter, 44, was charged in July 2023 with six counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. He is accused of having sexual contact with a patient on six occasions between October 2020 and May 2021. Four happened during scheduled appointments, during which he was to provide mental health services, and two happened at the patient’s residence, according to criminal complaints.
According to a search warrant request filed in July 2023, the patient called the UI police department in February 2023 to report the encounters. She provided police with texts between her and Burkhalter in which they discussed scheduling sexual intercourse.
After Burkhalter was arrested for that case, he was released on his own recognizance and a no-contact order was filed on behalf of the victim. Burkhalter pleaded not guilty in October 2023 and the case is ongoing. The next hearing is scheduled for June 24.
On May 2, two additional charges of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist were filed against Burkhalter, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested on Thursday and was being held in the Johnson County Jail on a $10,000 bail.
According to criminal complaints detailing the new charges, Burkhalter inappropriately touched a woman he was counseling during a July 2022 appointment and a November 2022 appointment. A no-contact order has been filed on behalf of the woman.
A third woman — also a previous patient of Burkhalter’s — was mentioned in an application for a search warrant filed in August 2022 to seize and search his phone. That search warrant did not result in criminal charges being filed against Burkhalter.
The warrant request states that patient was involved in an incident that brought her to the UIHC emergency department in December 2021. While there, she told a social worker she had sexual interactions with Burkhalter while she had been his patient.
The hospital conducted an internal investigation and Burkhalter denied there had been any sexual relationship. He kept his job and was told by the UIHC human resources department to cease all contact with the client, according to the warrant request filed by the UI Department of Public Safety. The department said it had not been notified of the patient’s initial report made at the hospital.
In May 2023, the patient talked during an appointment with her new therapist about her sexual relationship with Burkhalter, and said they had been in contact in April 2023, after Burkhalter had been told to cease all contact with her. The UI public safety department was contacted after this second report and began an investigation, court records show.
Burkhalter’s license to be an independent social worker was suspended indefinitely in February 2023 by the Iowa Board of Social Work.
www.thegazette.com
James Daniel Burkhalter, 44, was charged in July 2023 with six counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. He is accused of having sexual contact with a patient on six occasions between October 2020 and May 2021. Four happened during scheduled appointments, during which he was to provide mental health services, and two happened at the patient’s residence, according to criminal complaints.
According to a search warrant request filed in July 2023, the patient called the UI police department in February 2023 to report the encounters. She provided police with texts between her and Burkhalter in which they discussed scheduling sexual intercourse.
After Burkhalter was arrested for that case, he was released on his own recognizance and a no-contact order was filed on behalf of the victim. Burkhalter pleaded not guilty in October 2023 and the case is ongoing. The next hearing is scheduled for June 24.
On May 2, two additional charges of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist were filed against Burkhalter, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested on Thursday and was being held in the Johnson County Jail on a $10,000 bail.
According to criminal complaints detailing the new charges, Burkhalter inappropriately touched a woman he was counseling during a July 2022 appointment and a November 2022 appointment. A no-contact order has been filed on behalf of the woman.
A third woman — also a previous patient of Burkhalter’s — was mentioned in an application for a search warrant filed in August 2022 to seize and search his phone. That search warrant did not result in criminal charges being filed against Burkhalter.
The warrant request states that patient was involved in an incident that brought her to the UIHC emergency department in December 2021. While there, she told a social worker she had sexual interactions with Burkhalter while she had been his patient.
The hospital conducted an internal investigation and Burkhalter denied there had been any sexual relationship. He kept his job and was told by the UIHC human resources department to cease all contact with the client, according to the warrant request filed by the UI Department of Public Safety. The department said it had not been notified of the patient’s initial report made at the hospital.
In May 2023, the patient talked during an appointment with her new therapist about her sexual relationship with Burkhalter, and said they had been in contact in April 2023, after Burkhalter had been told to cease all contact with her. The UI public safety department was contacted after this second report and began an investigation, court records show.
Burkhalter’s license to be an independent social worker was suspended indefinitely in February 2023 by the Iowa Board of Social Work.
More sexual exploitation counts filed against former UI social worker
A former social worker with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics who was previously charged with the sexual exploitation of a patient is now facing two additional sexual exploitation charges related to a different patient.
www.thegazette.com
