By Paul Hammel
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — The state license of a Scottsbluff mental health counselor has been revoked for engaging in a three-year sexual relationship with a client.
Michael L. Leach recently agreed to a revocation lasting at least two years following an investigation by the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office on behalf of the State Health and Human Services Department.
Leach had been licensed as a mental health practitioner, a counselor and a drug and alcohol counselor.
The petition seeking disciplinary action by the Attorney General’s Office stated that Leach had treated a woman for post-traumatic stress and depression following her hospitalization in 2014.
Two years later, the relationship became sexual, and that continued until the client ended it in 2019.
It is “unprofessional conduct” for such a practitioner to engage in a “sexually intimate, dating or romantic relationship” with a client during counseling or within five years of ending such services, according to state rules governing such state licenses.
The revocation settlement was signed May 10.
Leach, when reached, said he cooperated fully in the investigation and took full responsibility for his actions.
“I am sorry for the harm and suffering I have caused,” he said.