ELDORA — Facing three charges for sexual misconduct, 38-year-old Sarah Jean Perry of Marshalltown, a former therapist at the Iowa State Training School for Boys (Eldora State Training School), was arrested on Nov. 15 and is now working her way through the judicial process.

The three charges and corresponding criminal complaints, sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist (a Class D felony), sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist within one year of service (serious misdemeanor), and sexual misconduct with an offender (aggravated misdemeanor), were filed in mid-November after October allegations of sexual interactions with some of the clients at the school.

Details were still relatively sparse in the early going. But an investigation was launched on Oct. 29 into the alleged impropriety, with claims that Perry had been “engaging in sexual acts” and had given contraband to some of the school’s students, with reports stating that one such student had been caught with a vape pen by one of the school’s staff members.

The ensuing investigation was opened up and conducted by numerous agencies: Eldora Police Department, Hardin County Attorney’s Office, Iowa State Training School, and Department of Inspections and Appeals.

Prior reports had suggested that Perry had been inappropriately engaging with upward of half a dozen Training School clients as one of the facility’s psychologists; however, there was only one listed victim when cross-referencing the three counts’ affidavits, which were also officially filed through the Iowa court system on Nov. 15.

At the Training School, Perry had been under assignment with the victim for about a year, serving as his therapist from August 2022 to September 2023, when suspicions were triggered and the investigation followed. Perry had worked up to the Psychologist 3 position before being placed on administrative leave and then ultimately terminated.

Overall, the three affidavits shared many commonalities. Their narratives each alleged that Perry had “numerous three-way phone calls” with the victim. Worth noting, though, that Perry and the victim were the only two mentioned parties.

The nature of the phone calls included lengthy conversations about Perry’s life and “phone sex.” With that, the affidavits also revealed that Perry and the client had at least talked about meeting up at some point when he would be home on a visit away from the school. Perry was employed by the Training School during the time of those phone calls.

According to one of the three criminal complaints, the phone calls continued between Perry and the victim, even as he was transitioned from the State Training School to the Hardin County Jail. To that, the affidavit stated that Perry and the victim “had several phone conversations where they engaged in phone sex and talked about engaging in sex acts when released.”

The exact timeframe for when the interactions took place is muddy, but the affidavit’s low range was listed as Oct. 14 and the upper range as Nov. 15. The victim’s age and most other info were protected, but the Training School houses male students aged 12 to 18. Also, at this point, a no-contact order has been filed for the victim.

Upon the execution of the arrest warrant, Perry was taken into custody at the Hardin County Jail, with a bond set at $8,000 cash only. She was released on a pretrial agreement after submitting a request for a conditional recognizance bond since she is also trying to support multiple children and doesn’t have a prior track record.