Teen counselor facing charge

Court: Woman accused of kissing Maple Lane inmate

BY JEREMY PAWLOSKI | The Olympian • Published August 07, 2009

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The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office has referred a charge of custodial sexual misconduct against a 33-year-old female counselor at Maple Lane School, a locked facility for young male offenders, after she allegedly kissed an 18-year-old inmate.

The alleged incident occurred about 1:30 p.m. June 30 in a “cottage,” or dorm, at Maple Lane, Thurston County Chief Criminal Deputy James Chamberlain said. The facility is between Grand Mound and Rochester in south Thurston County.

A sheriff’s office detective investigated the incident and on Thursday referred the second-degree custodial sexual misconduct charge, a gross misdemeanor, to the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. It is up to prosecutors to decide whether criminal charges are warranted.

Chamberlain said an employee at Maple Lane saw the counselor and inmate kissing.

The employee knocked on the glass of the room the pair were in, and they immediately stopped, Chamberlain said.

He said it is his understanding that the woman was placed on administrative leave from Maple Lane School pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Maple Lane is a facility for medium- and maximum-security offenders.

Second-degree custodial sexual misconduct occurs when a perpetrator has sexual contact with a person who “is a resident of a state, county, or city adult or juvenile correctional facility, including but not limited to jails, prisons, detention centers, or work release facilities, or is under correctional supervision,” according to state statute.

Also, a perpetrator must be defined as “an employee or contract personnel of a correctional agency.” The crime of custodial sexual misconduct occurs when “the perpetrator has, or the victim reasonably believes the perpetrator has, the ability to influence the terms, conditions length, or the fact of incarceration or correctional supervision...”

Consent is not a defense under the custodial sexual misconduct statute.

State Department of Social and Health Services, spokesman Steve Williams said he can’t comment on the incident but emphasized that Maple Lane staff members followed correct procedures in reporting the incident.

Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465

jpawloski@theolympian.com