Former Lighthouse employee pleads to sexual assault

One of three former employees of a children’s mental health facility who was charged with the sexual assault of a patient pleaded guilty Monday and received a 10-year prison term.

As potential jurors waited in the hall, Jacey Haskell huddled with his attorney and mother, discussing a potential plea deal, a discussion Judge Daniel J. Craig encouraged after learning the sexual act between Haskell, 26, and a 16-year-old patient was captured on video.

Haskell’s trial in Richmond County Superior Court was to begin Monday, but he took the plea deal which capped any potential incarceration at 10 years. The crime of sexual assault by a person with supervisory authority is punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

The crime took place Feb. 7, 2017, at Lighthouse Care Center. Haskell was a mental health technician whose job that night was to watch over four girls, District Attorney Natalie Paine said. In the video, the teen is seen walking by Haskell who calls to her and asks if she thought she was old enough for him, Paine said. When the girl said “yes”, Haskell pulled out his penis and told her to show him.

When the girl realized there was a video camera, Haskell told her not to worry, that it was turned off, Paine said. It wasn’t.

The teen was committed to Lighthouse for about a month. She had had a tragic life and was in the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services, Paine said.

Defense attorney Greg Gelpi asked the judge to consider Haskell’s previous clean criminal history, consistent work history, and that since the victim was 16, if the act had taken place outside of Lighthouse it wouldn’t have been a crime. The age of consent in Georgia is 16.

Gelpi also asked the judge to consider that Haskell’s plea spared the teen from having to testify in court, something Haskell did not want to put her through.

Craig sentenced Haskell to 10 years in prison followed by eight years on probation. Once released he will have to register as a sex offender.

A similar sentence, 10 years in prison followed by 10 years on probation, was given to former Lighthouse employee Chris Calhoun for the sexual abuse of a former patient, and to Ethan C. Simmons a former patient who had a sexual encounter with a 12-year-old after both were released. Criminal charges are still pending against former Lighthouse employee Timothy Carroll who has pleaded not guilty.

At least one civil lawsuit was filed by the parents of one of the victims.