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Gwinnett County Therapist Accused Of Sexual Assault

Posted: 2:28 pm EDT July 16, 2008Updated: 6:03 pm EDT July 16, 2008

A Gwinnett County psychotherapist has been accused of sexually assaulting a patient.

The patient said the alleged assault happened at James “Cliff” Tillery’s office on Indian Trail-Lilburn Road in Norcross.

Tillery, 44, offers counseling and therapy sessions for clients suffering from a range of emotional disorders.

"He knew all my weaknesses and he was starting to really hone in on those to get what he wanted from me sexually," the patient, we will call "Beth," told Channel 2's Rachel Kim.

Beth said she is a rape victim, recovering alcoholic and had an eating disorder when she began seeing Tillery in May 2006. The weekly sessions went normally for six months, Beth said.

VIDEO: Gwinnett County Therapist Accused Of Sexual Assault

"He had really gained my trust. I had told him things I had never told anybody," she said.

Beth said things changed when Tillery began asking for hugs. She said that's when the physical contact began. "And then he would start to rub my back and he would rub my hips and he would put his face into my neck," she said.

Beth said Tillery began confiding in her and said he had an unhappy marriage and childhood. He told her how special she was and how much he needed her, according to Beth. She said her therapy sessions with Tillery soon ended with sex.

"I felt so disgusted by what I had done. He was taking my money and my family's money and getting sex for it when he was supposed to be helping me," Beth said.

Police are holding him without bond in the Gwinnett County Jail. His next court appearance will be July 24.

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