![]() Huebsch, 34, says her two visits to the crisis center in the fall of 2016 weren't very productive. A lot of time has passed, a lot of lessons have been learned," she said. "There has been a great deal of serious time, effort and work that has gone into bettering ourselves as an agency." 'I was ashamed and embarrassed' "I think we have learned a great deal since 2017. Joy Ihle, deputy director of the county department overseeing the crisis center, said the agency has acknowledged the error and worked hard to ensure it meets the highest professional standards going forward. "It really did affect Liz - and still affects her," she said. "You’d hate to see that happen again." It sparked a lawsuit that led Polk County earlier to approve a $167,000 settlement and a judge to issue a scathing decision in July of this year denying the county immunity for the advocate's actions.Īttorney Angela Campbell, who represented Huebsch, said the key goal of the lawsuit was to ensure the county does not betray the trust of other crime victims in the future. The 2017 episode damaged the agency's relationship with other social services organizations and nearly cost it hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding. Instead, it was the agency's advocate who filed a report about her to her licensure board, threatening her career. She hoped the advocates at the county's crisis center might have resources that could help her.īut, as court records and multiple investigations have shown, that's not what happened. Huebsch - a therapist and social worker - feared the man would make good on his threat to file a complaint that would jeopardize her professional license, even though they'd never had a client-counselor relationship. The physical abuse had stopped, but he'd continued to show up at her personal and professional events, at one point leaving a contact card at her workplace. She told the agency she'd been sexually assaulted by a man she knew. ![]() ![]() Elizabeth Huebsch went to Polk County Crisis and Advocacy Services for help. ![]()
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