Therapist Arrested in Sex Assault of Disabled Woman
Gregory Harmeling, a licensed family and marriage counselor, was arrested Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016, for allegedly sexually assaulting a female patient who has developmental disabilities.
A marriage and family therapist was arrested Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman with developmental disabilities during a counseling session, police said.
Gregory Harmeling, 45, of Victorville, was arrested and booked on charges of digital penetration with a foreign object after detectives were able to gather information supporting the allegations of the victim, an adult female who is developmentally disabled and has other medical conditions, according to the Victorville Police Department.
In early December, the woman was attending a second counseling session with Harmeling at his office in Victorville. During the session, Harmeling sat next to her and brushed her hair, not long before he started inappropriately touching her, police said.
He eventually locked his office door to prevent her from leaving, pushed the woman on her back and started sexually assaulting her, according to police. Despite the woman’s protests, he proceeded to assault her for several minutes, police said.
Harmeling was booked into the High Desert Detention Center and was released Thursday on bail, inmate records show.
Harmeling is a licensed marriage and family therapist with offices in Victorville and Needles.
Detectives believe there may have been other victims. Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact Detective Dana Weinberg at the Victorville Police Department at (760) 243-1989. Callers wishing to remain anonymous are urged to call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78CRIME (27463) or leave information on the We-Tip website.
Published 4 hours ago
