Counselor receives probation in sex case

Friday, Oct. 24, 2003 | 9:35 a.m.

A former counselor was sentenced to probation Thursday stemming from his sexual relationship with a patient who claimed she suffered from a multiple personality disorder.

District Judge Michael Cherry sentenced Robert William Hough to a two- to five-year prison term on a single felony count of abuse of a client. But Cherry suspended the sentence and placed Hough on probation for a period of five years.

Hough had pleaded guilty to the charge as the result of a plea agreement. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop several sexual assault and open and gross lewdness charges.

Prosecutors claimed Hough had an inappropriate relationship with a 34-year-old woman who had a multiple personality disorder while he worked as a counselor at the West Valley Counseling Center in Las Vegas. The woman addressed the court during Thursday's sentencing.

Defense attorneys, however, contended that the patient did not have a multiple personality disorder and that the sexual relationship between the two was consensual. Deputy Public Defender Jordan Savage said Thursday that he believed the woman set his client up in order to pursue a civil suit against him.

"She was trying to falsely accuse him of rape," he said. "But he did cross the line. The relationship was inappropriate. I think the resolution was fair to both sides."

According to the terms of his probation, Hough is not allowed to perform any counseling. He also is banned from accessing the Internet or possessing sexually explicit material. If he successfully completes his probation, he will be allowed to withdraw his plea and plead guilty to a gross misdemeanor count of abuse of a client.

The woman claimed Hough had diagnosed her as having disassociative identity disorder, or split personalities, and that he was treating her when they began having a sexual relationship.

During a preliminary hearing, the woman testified that Hough engaged in sex acts with two of her personalities -- a child and a young woman of an unknown age who was in love with Hough.