Woman Pleads Guilty to Sex With Boy, 16

A former Orange County group home counselor accused of a relationship with a 16-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of having sex with a minor.

Trisha Lee Watkins, 32, of Santa Ana pleaded guilty before Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey on Friday to five counts each of oral copulation and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. A judge will determine if she should receive probation or a prison term.

Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys could be reached Monday. According to court documents, the encounters occurred between June 2 and Sept. 29 of last year in Watkins’ car, at her home and at other locations after she and the boy developed a romantic relationship.

Watkins, who was a counselor at Olive Crest Group Home, told authorities the sexual acts between her and the boy were consensual, court documents said.

Olive Crest staff were aware of “boundary” issues between Watkins and the boy as early as June 2002, when she was observed in the boy’s room with the lights out. She showed favoritism toward the boy, whom she began visiting on her days off, the documents said.

She took the boy out for his birthday and later the two had outings together, including going to a concert, the beach, movies and shopping trips.

On July 7, 2002, Watkins was discovered rubbing the boy’s back in his bedroom by a house manager who gave her a warning and told her to leave. Watkins was “receptive and apologetic” about the incident, documents showed.

But the next day at 9 p.m., the two were discovered by campus security in the back seat of her car in a fourth-floor parking structure at Chapman University in Orange. Watkins, whose clothing was described by the security officer as “disheveled,” said she and the boy were having a counseling session, according to court documents.

The pair were released by Orange police officers who reported the incident to Olive Crest.

Watkins was suspended from her job and later resigned, according to court documents.

She has posted $50,000 bail and is working for an insurance company in Irvine. She will remain free until she reports to the California Department of Corrections in August.

The boy’s father, on his behalf, sued the county Probation Department, Olive Crest and Watkins on March 28 for sexual misconduct, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Olive Crest, which markets itself on its Web page as a “leader in the prevention and treatment of child abuse,” operates more than 20 neighborhood homes, foster family and adoption agencies and children’s centers for high-risk youth. It provides services in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties and also in Las Vegas and Seattle.

Olive Crest officials did not respond to telephone inquiries.

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City News Service contributed to this report.