[420 Girl]

The director of a substance abuse clinic is accused of urging a client to rip off Milwaukee County.

Officers said their investigation started when that client went to the authorities.

Kevin Baird said when he took his tale to police, they thought he was lying.

"They didn't believe me, they made me take a lie detector test and a drug test -- they didn't believe me," Baird said.

Baird said he told them he went to Parkview Counseling Associates in Greenfield after he tested positive for marijuana in a drug screen.

He had insurance, but he said the clinic director told him he owed $2,000 out-of-pocket.

"I was like, 'Dennis, how am I going to pay this bill,'" Baird said.

According to court records, the counselor told him to sign up for a federally-funded program run by Milwaukee County called Impact.

The counselor would bill it for sessions that never took place to pay down Baird's bill, but things got even stranger.

"As the bill started getting lower and lower he asked me for drugs to pay his bill, to pay it to zero. At that point I went to the police," Baird.

Baird said the counselor told him to bring in his mother's oxycontin pills. Police set up a sting operation and documented the hand-off. The counselor now faces drug and fraud charges.

The clinic office was closed Monday and 12 News found the counselor's wife at home.

"He's always been a good counselor. We've been together for 25 years. I have no reason to suspect that he's trying to defraud anybody," Dennis Shirk's wife, Nancy Shirk, said.

When Dennis Shirk returned home, he told 12 News to refer all questions to his lawyer.

"Oh please, I was not ripping off a federal program and shaking down clients for prescription drugs -- no," Dennis Shirk said.

Investigators said they are trying to determine if other clients Baird paid with prescription drugs or phony billings.

"I can't help him, I went there for help. Hopefully he'll get some help now wherever he may go," Baird said.

The district attorney is expected to review the case on Thursday.

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