Former UIHC social worker accused of sexual exploitation

A former social worker with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was arrested this week on charges he had a sexual relationship with a client.

James Daniel Burkhalter, 43, of Iowa City, is charged with six counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist, a Class D felony. He had his first appearance in court Friday and was released from jail on his own recognizance.

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Burkhalter is accused of having sexual contact with a patient on six occasions between October 2020 and May 2021. Four happened during scheduled clinical appointments, during which he was to provide mental health services, and two happened at the patient’s residence, according to criminal complaints.

A no-contact order has been filed on behalf of the victim.

Burkhalter lost his license as an independent social worker earlier this year in relation to another investigation into possible sexual exploitation.

An application for a search warrant to seize and search Burkhalter’s phone, filed in August 2022, states a patient of Burkhalter’s was involved in an incident that brought her to the UIHC emergency department in December 2021. While there, she told a social worker she had sexual interactions with Burkhalter while she had been his patient.

The patient mentioned in the search warrant is different from the victim listed in the no-contact order filed with the criminal charges.

The hospital conducted an internal investigation and Burkhalter denied there had been any sexual relationship. He kept his job and was told by the UIHC human resources department to cease all contact with the client, according to the warrant request filed by the UI Department of Public Safety, which had not been notified of that initial report from the client.

In May, the patient again talked during an appointment with her new therapist about her sexual relationship with Burkhalter, and said they had been in contact in April, after Burkhalter had been told to cease all contact with her. The UI public safety department was contacted after this second report and began an investigation, the warrant request states.

Burkhalter’s license to be an independent social worker was suspended indefinitely in February by the Iowa Board of Social Work in relation to the ongoing investigation.

A warrant for Burkhalter’s arrest was issued Wednesday, and he was booked Thursday in the Johnson County Jail.

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