Martin “Marty” William Wallace owns Therapies, Inc. in Sheldon, Iowa, where he practiced as a mental health counselor and play therapist. He was arrested in May, 2024, after a thirteen-year-old child reported that Wallace had touched him inappropriately at least three times. Those details are in the news links below.
When the police searched his office a second time, they found corroborating evidence as well as multiple cameras, including a hidden camera.
O’Brien County prosecutors charged Wallace with two felonies: sexual abuse in the second degree, and sexual exploitation by a therapist. He was also charged with the misdemeanor offense of lascivious acts with a child. He is out on bail.
Police reviewed investigations by the state licensing agency and discovered a raft of complaints about Wallace, but no disciplinary action was ever taken. However, since the arrest, the Iowa Board of Behavioral Science suspended his license and charged him with engaging in sexual activity with a patient.
- NW Iowa.com: Wallace One of Iowa’s Pioneer Play Therapists (profile from 2023, a year before arrest)
- NW Iowa.com: Child therapist arrested on felony charges
- Iowa Capital Dispatch: Police: Therapist charged with sex abuse has a ‘long history of complaints’
June 8, 2024