EXETER, N.H. — Kristie Torbick, a former Exeter High School guidance counselor and registered sex offender, was convicted March 25, 2025, on a felony charge banning her from child-care services after volunteering at youth baseball games.
This move has outraged the community over how schools and higher-education professionals handled her earlier crimes, and risked other Children during the instances.
Torbick, 46, of Lee, N.H., was initially convicted July 9, 2018, on multiple counts of felonious sexual assault for sexual contact with a 14-year-old student while she was employed as a support counselor at Exeter High between December 2016 and January 2017.
She also served a prison sentence at that time and remains required to register under New Hampshire law.
State records list her convictions for felonious sexual assault and a separate Child Care Prohibition conviction dated March 25, 2025; her registry photo is dated June 12, 2025.
“It’s insane to me how many people get unification with their children, custody and now avoid jail time for crimes against children. At what point will the State admit that this behavior is acceptable and legal? If not, punish accordingly,” wrote Cummings.
Daniel E. Fife added, “Ive known her for 20 yrs . How can avoid jail time for breaking conditions she was given at her sentencing hearing, which I attended and saw people stick up for her.”
Serious Concerns From Numerous Individuals
In 2023, Torbick signed up to volunteer at the snack shack during children’s baseball games at Demerritt Park in Madbury.
Prosecutors later filed a charge of prohibition from child-care service; as part of a negotiated plea, she received a 12-month jail sentence that was deferred for one year and suspended for two years, and she is barred from unsupervised contact with minors other than her own children.
The case exposed a wider network of support that many say illustrates troubling attitudes in parts of the education community.
At Torbick’s 2018 sentencing, nearly two dozen letters of support were submitted on her behalf, including from current and retired professors at Plymouth State University and several K–12 counselors and administrators.
Bedford High School Dean of Students Zanna Blaney described Torbick as “far and away our strongest school counselor in the department of six” and called her “an honest and loyal woman.”
That support cost Blaney her job; she later sued, claiming her termination violated free-speech rights.
Plymouth State drew fresh condemnation after professors who trained school counselors wrote in Torbick’s favor.
Professor Nancy Strapko, an associate professor emeritus at PSU, wrote that Torbick “takes full responsibility” and controversially suggested the victim was the “pursuer.”
PSU President Donald Birx issued a statement condemning Torbick’s actions and saying the university “condemns in the strongest terms the actions of Ms. Torbick and supports the victim in this case,” while stressing the letters did not represent the institution.
Alexandria Police Chief Donald Sullivan said the faculty support was chilling.
“We’re seeing the people who are training all these new guidance counselors for the state supporting this guidance counselor who raped a child. How many other guidance counselors have learned from these teachers?” he told reporters, warning that such praise could silence victims.
On social media and town pages, parents and residents reacted with anger and disbelief.
Comments ranged from “Disgusting! Absolute trash” to “He sucks!”, reflecting broader frustration with administrators and elected officials perceived as prioritizing staff over students.
