Soldier Seeking Help for PTSD Allegedly Stalked, Harassed by 'Psychotic' Therapist

Feb. 2, 2011— -- A therapist treating an army sergeant for post-traumatic stress disorder allegedly stalked and sexually harassed the soldier -- apparently sending him lewd text messages and threatening his family -- in a case that culminated with a high-speed chase and the therapist in a psychiatric hospital, according to a military investigation.

Prosecutors Tuesday charged Rachelle Santiago, 43, an independent social worker hired to counsel soldiers at Fort Riley in Kansas, with stalking the sergeant who she was counseling for PTSD and marital problems.

Santiago suggested the sergeant meet her in a bar, allegedly rubbed and "humped" against him in her office, sent suggestive and threatening text messages and appeared unannounced at his home, according to an affidavit filed by a military police investigator.

The sergeant, whom ABC News is not naming because he is the subject of alleged sexual abuse, told investigators that his initial meetings with Santiago in December 2010 were helpful, before the situation took a dark turn last month.

Santiago embraced the soldier Jan. 22 in a "very strong and aggressive manner and told him it was an appropriate part of counseling," Special Agent Lisa Medrano, military police investigator, wrote in the affidavit, which was obtained by ABCNews.com.

"Mrs. Santiago began to rub her crotch area (humping) against [the sergeant], and eventually told him she did have an orgasm and she wanted him to do the same," the affidavit notes.

Santiago, who is herself married, also grabbed his crotch, according to the affidavit. The soldier said he was faithful to his wife and denied her advances.

The next day the sergeant received 15 text messages from Santiago, including photos of pink lingerie and a suggestive message informing him that she was "hot and wet," according to the affidavit.

The soldier asked Santiago to stop sending him texts but, according to investigators, that only increased the number of messages she sent.

In a matter of days, as the soldier denied her advances, the alleged messages became increasingly threatening.

The sergeant received a message Jan. 24 that falsely implied the two had a relationship, and Santiago would have her revenge for being dumped, according to the affidavit.

'I Will Be Your Crazy B[****]'

"I should tell [your wife], remember I know where you live and what color your sheets are," she allegedly wrote.

"I don't want to hurt you, you are hurting me," according to another alleged message.

The messages later that day allegedly threatened the soldier's sons.

"I will eat your lunch... the only way to protect your boys," she allegedly wrote. And, then, "You come and talk to me or I will jack you world 6 ways to Sunday and don't doubt my ability to do this... You want a crazy b[****]; I will be your crazy b[****]."

The soldier said he began to feel "like he did during his deployment, edgy with a need for a heightened sense of security to protect his home and his family," according to investigators.

He asked the therapist to meet him at a Burger King to ask her to stop harassing him. Instead, she gave him a white envelope with the words "My Master" written on the front, the affidavit noted.

He returned it unopened, but Santiago said she had stopped wearing her wedding band and the soldier was now "her man," the affidavit said.

Fearing his wife or children would be hurt, the soldier took the advice of another non-commissioned officer and reported the alleged harassment.

After making the report Jan. 24, according to the affidavit, the soldier and his wife saw the therapist sitting in her car outside their home. The sergeant said he feared the woman would approach his children at the post day-care center or his wife at her workplace.

Santiago was barred Jan. 25 from entering the Fort Riley military installation in northeast Kansas, according to investigators. She tried to get on the post that same day and was issued a citation for alleged criminal trespass.

The next day, she allegedly sped through another entrance. Military police began a high-speed pursuit, which reached 100 mph, for nearly an hour, investigators say.

When she eventually stopped, police took her to the Geary Community Hospital, where she underwent a psychiatric examination and was placed under police guard, according to investigators.

She tore things off the wall of the exam room and had to be restrained, according to the affidavit.

Hospital staff called her "completely out of control, manic, profane, and delusional and was screaming, yelling and flailing around on the cart," the affidavit alleged.

Therapist Experiences 'Psychotic Break'

She was later taken to a state psychiatric hospital, according to investigators.

Santiago told doctors and investigators her phone had been hijacked and someone had impersonated her voice to leave messages with the soldier. She said she "believed [the soldier] needed her" and she would contact him once she was released, according to the affidavit.

A doctor told military investigators Santiago experienced a "psychotic break" resulting from heavy doses of the steroid medication she was taking for bronchial infection.

The same day she was taken to the hospital, the sergeant found the enveloped inscribed with the word "Master" beneath the seat of his car. She also left him a pair of "perfumed panties," according to the affidavit.

Santiago's lawyer, federal public defender Ronald Wurtz, said he had met briefly with his client but did not yet know enough about her case "to comment."

"I had one 20-minute conversation with her," he said about the doctor's diagnosis that his client had experienced a psychotic break. "I'm not sure a mental health professional could make an evaluation to her sanity in that time, and I'm certainly not that. I don't know what I'm dealing with here."