Former guidance counselor sentenced for preying on second girl

Zale Hoddenbach | Chicago Police photo

A former counselor at a Logan Square Boys & Girls Club, who was already serving a 40-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a teenager, has pleaded guilty to trying to solicit a second girl.

Zale Hoddenbach, 45, pleaded guilty to indecent solicitation of a child and was sentenced to six years in prison at a hearing Wednesday, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office said.

In the summer of 2011, Hoddenbach tried to pay a 16-year-old girl to take explicit photos and videos of him having sex, prosecutors said.

He also showed the victim lewd videos of himself and offered her money to participate in sex acts with him, prosecutors said. When she tried to leave his office, he closed the door and exposed himself.

Hoddenbach was previously convicted of sexually assaulting another girl, 15, whom he also met through the Boys & Girls Club. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison in that case, and the sentences will run concurrently, the state’s attorney’s office said.

Both teens met Hoddenbach in his capacity as a guidance counselor and came to him seeking job advice, prosecutors said.