Cherokee Chronicle Times

No touch, no foul

Cherokee never pressed charges against Sanders because contact wasn’t made


The south end of the CCUSO wing at Cherokee Mental Health Institute in August 2022. Photo by Jake Kurtz

A former psychologist at the Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders (CCUSO) won’t face criminal charges in connection with an alleged emotional affair she developed with a patient in 2019.

A Cherokee Police Department investigation did not produce enough evidence to substantiate criminal charges against Shannon Sanders, according to Chief Nate James.

A lengthy review of video evidence from the civil commitment unit and an interview with Sanders’ alleged victim, Jeff Goodwin, didn’t yield concrete evidence of a physical relationship. Goodwin’s former attorney, Jason Dunn, alleged Sanders encouraged Goodwin to fondle himself in front of her and that they watched pornography together at least once.

In an interview with the Associated Press in 2019, Dunn described their relationship as an “emotional affair” that frequently involved sexual discussions.

James declined to comment on Dunn’s assessment of his former client’s relationship. He instead focused on his interpretation of Iowa Code 709.15, the law that bans sexual exploitation of emotionally dependent patients and their therapists. The law contemplates a host of physical sexual acts, but it doesn’t mention any of the allegations Dunn leveled.

Dunn couldn’t be reached for comment for this story. Goodwin has since retained Brad Schroeder of Des Moines to sue the civil commitment unit and the State of Iowa because Sanders allegedly eliminated the possibility that Goodwin could be rehabilitated from being a sexually violent predator.

Schroeder admitted the decision on criminal charges is difficult, but by no means was the matter definitive.

“We hit a wall,” James said in an interview. “We found zero evidence to support the claim there was physical contact involved.”

James told the AP in 2019 that Cherokee police were investigating “claims brought to our attention” when asked whether his office was considering charges against Sanders. He said the state furnished an investigator who specialized in claims against therapists. The investigator, James and an officer then reviewed “countless hours” of video footage from CCUSO and interviewed Goodwin about the alleged relationship. (Sanders declined to be interviewed.)

The footage showed no evidence of a physical relationship, James said. He declined to speculate on whether the CCUSO tapes provided a comprehensive account of Sanders and Goodwin’s relationship, but he noted the content was extensive. (Sanders’ husband oversaw the unit’s video systems at the time of the relationship.) He didn’t specify whether what was on the tapes matched what was alleged by Dunn, but the content the team reviewed didn’t rise to a matter of criminality.

“It was dead end after dead end,” James stressed.

James declined to specify who the investigator was or what department the investigator worked for. The matter wasn’t investigated by either the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation or the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, according to spokespersons for both agencies. A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Human Services, which oversees CCUSO, did not respond to a request for comment on the extent of the agency’s assistance in the Cherokee police investigation.


The absence of a physical relationship was a critical factor in pressing charges, James claimed, because a therapist’s tactics have essentially no boundary in Sanders’ case.

Patients can file complaints against therapists with the Iowa Board of Psychology or law enforcement if they believe they were victims of malpractice.

In Sanders’ case, she wasn’t licensed with the psychology board, meaning she was exempt from licensing requirements, investigation and public discipline from the board.

James noted his investigative team was operating from a code section replete with broad exceptions. 

“A therapist’s tactics, basically, it can kind of go that way,” said James, referring to Sanders’ conduct that led to her firing from CCUSO in November 2019. A DHS investigation found Sanders committed “boundary violations” and did special favors for a patient, but it did not detail the nature of the conduct or the patient. Dunn specified the allegations and named Goodwin as the victim. “There are no set boundaries.”

The code section James referenced contains an exception that reads:

“Sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist does not include touching which is part of a necessary examination or treatment provided a patient or client by a counselor or therapist acting within the scope of the practice or employment in which the counselor or therapist is engaged.”

That exception basically covered Sanders.

Schroeder, Goodwin’s attorney, said Sanders was acting in the scope of her employment despite the relationship, which he deemed “outrageous.” That’s why Sanders is no longer a party to the lawsuit Goodwin filed against her, CCUSO, CCUSO administrators and the Iowa Department of Human Services. 

The state argued that Sanders, the administrators and state departments should not be parties to the suit because Sanders was a state employee when the alleged relationship occurred. Schroeder did not resist the state’s motion.

The state remains the lone defendant for Sanders’ conduct. A five-day jury trial is scheduled for next October to hear the merits of Goodwin’s claims.

It remains unclear where Sanders is. She could not be reached for comment.

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