A Salt Lake therapist awaiting sentencing on sex-abuse charges had been working with teenagers in California.
Therapist Richard S. Swart will be sentenced in 3rd District Court Jan. 21 for sexually abusing a 14-year-old male patient in 1990.In northern California, psychologist William J. Shryer said Swart worked for him at his Bay Area office from August to Dec. 10, the day Swart pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse.
Shryer said he terminated Swart as soon as he learned of the criminal charges.
Swart could not be reached for comment.
"I knew there was something hanging over him in Utah, but he made it sound like a malpractice suit," Shryer said Friday.
The psychologist said he knows of no misconduct by Swart, but the parents of boys he counseled are upset, he said.
Swart got into trouble three years ago while working as a therapist for Psychological Associates in Salt Lake City. He sexually abused a male patient during a dozen therapy sessions and then threatened to kill the boy if he told. The child was silent for almost two years, prosecutors said.
Officials later learned of another case of alleged abuse. Swart, meantime, had left town and moved to California, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the second boy.
While there, according to Shryer, Swart worked for a San Francisco psychiatric hospital, rising to the job of director of social services. He also worked as a contract therapist for a mental-health group before coming to Shryer for a job.
"He had great recommendations," Shryer said. "He established many programs for gifted kids. His work was exemplary."