Delaware K–5 therapist with bogus doctoral degree pleads no contest to raping 5-year-old girl

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A Delaware school therapist who used bogus master’s and doctoral degrees to get hired in 2021 has pleaded no contest to two counts of rape against a 5-year-old family member.

Arnold avoided a trial and a potential sentence of life in prison on first-degree rape charges by pleading to reduced charges last week in Superior Court. A no contest plea allows a defendant to accept conviction and punishment without admitting guilt.

The judge has ordered a pre-sentence investigation, but prosecutors plan to seek a total of 20 years in prison on the two second-degree rape convictions.

The child’s mother told WHYY News she’s glad this chapter of her family’s nightmare is over, and thanked New Castle County police Det. Daniel Watson and prosecutor Nichole Warner for their tenacity.

“I am grateful for them listening to my daughter,’’ said the woman, whose name is being withheld by WHYY News to protect the privacy of her and her child. “And for finally seeing through his deception.”

Until his July arrest, John Ervin Arnold had counseled dozens of young girls who experienced trauma or had behavioral health issues at Mount Pleasant and Lombardy elementary schools. Authorities have said no evidence surfaced that he abused any students.

Arnold, 48, was charged with first- and second-degree rape and other felonies by New Castle County police after his young relative made startling accusations at a day camp during a discussion on “good touches and bad touches,” court documents said.

Brandywine School District Superintendent Lisa Lawson said last year that she was “horrified’’ by the accusations after WHYY News provided her with a copy of the arrest warrant against the man who had been a trusted district counselor for nearly three years. Arnold was paid $114,500 in 2023.

Det. Watson also wrote in Arnold’s arrest warrant that an adult relative told him Arnold had abused her when she was a young girl in Florida, where he had practiced psychology. The woman, now in her 20s, also told the detective two other relatives had told her Arnold violated them sexually when they were children and he lived in Cumberland, Md., the warrant said. Arnold was not charged in connection with those allegations.

The arrest for raping his relative came two years after the child’s mother first reported similar abuse of the child to a physician and a psychologist. At the time, court records show, Arnold told the doctor that the toddler, then 3, had touched him inappropriately, police wrote in the arrest warrant. Medical reports concluded the child had a “behavioral issue,” so police were not notified, the warrant said.

But in July, the 5-year-old’s disclosures at the camp triggered a call to police and state child abuse investigators. The girl was examined at Nemours Children’s Hospital near Wilmington, where she repeated the accusations, and Arnold was soon taken into custody and held on $1.05 million cash bail.

Arnold’s ability to get a six-figure job in Delaware’s educational system also came under scrutiny after his arrest. A WHYY News investigation found that Arnold bamboozled state education officials who certified his fabricated advanced degrees in psychology from Ohio University, which he never attended. Arnold even had a copy of his bogus doctoral degree that proclaimed he earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in clinical psychology.

After his hoax was revealed by WHYY News, state officials began investigating how what spokeswoman Alison May called an “error” in the certification process had occurred. Officials later said one unidentified employee in the License and Certification office “erroneously accepted an unofficial transcript’’ and received unspecified discipline, May said in August.

At Brandywine, one administrator was fired and two others were disciplined for how they handled a complaint by a doctor at the Nemours hospital — two months before his arrest — that Arnold’s credentials were suspect. Lawson told WHYY News the officials made several mistakes, including not notifying the district’s human resources office.

Beyond questioning Arnold’s credentials, a Nemours psychologist told Brandywine officials that Arnold had been confrontational with a hospital intern after insisting, even though he was not a licensed psychologist, that a young boy at Lombardy that he was counseling had a mood disorder, Lawson said. The hospital had diagnosed the child with autism.

Mat Marshall, spokesman for Attorney General Kathy Jennings, said the state is satisfied with the outcome of the criminal case.

“Given the nature of the charges against Arnold, both in the severity of the felonies themselves and also given the obvious position of trust and authority that he held by virtue of his employment, this is a very serious case. We’re looking at a very serious consequence here.”

Marshall noted that a plea bargain spares the young child from the trauma of testifying in a criminal trial, which can be a risky choice for prosecutors.

“It’s absolutely something that prosecutors consider,” Marshall said. “This is not an easy process for victims to go through, to testify and be cross-examined, to relive their trauma.”

While the justice system has obtained convictions for violent felonies, prosecutors are well aware “that closure for victims is more elusive than justice,” Marshall said. “So we want to be mindful that even though we are happy with the sentence that we’re recommending under this plea and the disposition of this case, that doesn’t in one fell swoop undo the harm that was done to the victim.”

Brandywine spokesman Bill O’Hanlon said that while no students were abused, officials bemoan what transpired with someone they trusted with young children.

“We continue to be deeply troubled by this crime and have done everything in our power to support local law enforcement throughout the investigation,” O’Hanlon said in a written statement. “Our thoughts continue to be with those impacted by this.”