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In a Los Angeles courtroom, the sister of a 16-year-old victim condemned a high school counselor as “a predator” and “a monster” just moments before the counselor received a sentence of two years probation for sexual abuse.
Julie Tichon faced the court after entering a no-contest plea to two felony charges: engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger and oral copulation with a person under 18.
The victim, a student at YULA High School—a modern Orthodox Jewish yeshiva—was reportedly sexually abused by Tichon, who served as a counselor there. The alleged incidents took place multiple times between February and March 2024, leading to Tichon’s arrest in August of that year.
The victim’s sister, Sara, delivered an emotional statement, reading five letters—four from her sisters and one from herself—sharply criticizing Tichon for her conduct.
Sara recounted the impact of their mother’s sudden death in 2023, describing how “the family was shattered.” She accused Tichon of taking advantage of “a vulnerable kid at a fragile time” as he struggled through adolescence.
Once the rumors of an inappropriate relationship started swirling through the school the siblings said life was ruined.
“I was isolated and alone. My brother was the victim but they judged me. I hid in the bathroom at school”, the victim’s sister Phani wrote.
The crime rattled the “small religious community” where they lived, she said.
Sara went on to say Tichon “had stabbed us and twisted the knife” before calling the counselor “a monster” “predator” and “dangerous.”
“I hate Julie Tichon. We entrusted you with his safety, she used her time to groom him” she said.
Tichon, in black pants and a black shirt with a grey sweater, listened and stared straight ahead while sitting next to her attorney, Tariq Khero, as Sara read the letters.
After the proceedings, Tichon who attended the hearing with her mother, spoke exclusively with The California Post as Khero looked on. “I’m sorry, I wished it never happened,” she said.
Khero explained that he was the one who told Tischon to plead no contest instead of guilty, something the family had taken issue with in the letters.
“It was absolutely wrong, she made horrible mistakes,” Khero said. He added that Tichon had lost a brother to suicide around the same time the victim’s mother had died, but said its no excuse for Tichon’s action.
“I wanted to be there for (the victim), to get the support I didn’t,” Tichon said.
Khero says Tichon is doing “a lot of work on herself, more therapy, healing and making herself better so no one gets put in this position again.”
The terms of Tichon’s probation include registering as a sex offender, staying in therapy, keeping 100 yards away from the victim, and restitution to be decided at a later hearing. When the counselor was asked if she understood the terms, she said “yes, your honor.”
The victims family looked on, some on the verge of tears, as the terms were read.