High school counselor to plead guilty to sexually assaulting girl
A former high school guidance counselor in New Hampshire accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl will likely take a plea deal to lesser charges next week, according to a report.
Kristie Torbick, 39, is expected to plead guilty on Monday to four counts of felonious sexual assault in connection to incidents involving a female student at Exeter High School between December 2016 and January 2017, the Union Leader reported.
Torbick, of Lee, surrendered to police in Exeter a short time after the alleged trysts when investigators were alerted to reports of sexual misconduct at the school. Torbick, a first-year employee at the school, spent five years previously as a counselor in Bedford, where a school superintendent said she had a “great record,” according to the newspaper.
Torbick was indicted last year on a total of nine counts, including four counts of felonious sexual assault and three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, the Bangor Daily News reports. She allegedly engaged in “sexual penetration” with the 14-year-old student on Dec. 30, 2016, as well as other sexual acts that took place in Exeter and Epping.
Torbick also engaged in similar sex acts with the teen a week later while in Lee, where she “provided therapy [to the victim],” according to court documents that also allege Torbick had the girl perform a sex act on her.
Prosecutors will ask a judge for a 5- to 10-year prison sentence for Torbick. Assistant County Attorney Melissa Foles said the remaining charges will be dismissed in exchange for her guilty plea to four counts of felonious sexual assault.
An attorney for Torbick, who is no longer employed by New Hampshire School Administrative Unit 16, indicated to a judge in a notice of intent to plead guilty last month that he will seek her prison sentence to be suspended for 10 years.
Torbick will also be required to register as a sex offender and have no communication with the alleged victim or unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 except her own children, the Union Leader reports.