Superior Court Judge Lisa Worswick rejected Diane Amanda Hillman’s request to be sentenced under a special provision that would keep her out of prison but require extensive sex offender treatment.

Worswick said she made her ruling in part because Hillman violated her position of trust. Hillman, 40, worked as a counselor at Ballou Junior High School when she began a sexual relationship with the girl, who was 15 at the time.

Hillman pleaded guilty as charged in February to three counts of third-degree child rape and one count of third-degree child molestation.

The victim told Worswick on Friday that she’d been traumatized by the abuse and asked that Hillman receive the maximum sentence allowed.

Hillman’s attorney, Zenon Olbertz, told Worswick his client suffered from mental health problems and needed treatment, not prison time.

A tearful Hillman apologized to her victim, the girl’s family and her own relatives before being sentenced.

Adam Lynn, The News Tribune