In a screenshot from a video provided by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, former Green Hill employee Erin Stiebritz is escorted from the facility by a Washington State Trooper in January.
A former Green Hill School counselor charged in January for having sexual relations with a teenage inmate held at the Chehalis facility pleaded guilty Wednesday.
Erin Lee Stiebritz, also known as Erin Snodgrass, 37, of Centralia, pleaded guilty on one count of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct.
Her sentencing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sept. 21 in Lewis County Superior Court. She appeared at her change-of-plea hearing out of custody, and will remain out of custody pending her sentencing hearing.
The standard sentencing range for the crime, given Stiebritz’ lack of criminal history, is six to 12 months in prison. Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead would not comment on the sentence he plans to seek.
Stiebritz’ attorney, Blake Kremer, commented briefly for media after the hearing, saying the allegations and court process has been “painful for her and her family.”
Stiebritz will now have to register as a sex offender.
In February 2015, employees at the facility reportedly intercepted a letter between Stiebritz and the alleged victim, who was then 17. Staff believed the letter writer was Stiebritz, and the Washington State Patrol began an investigation into the incident, according to court documents.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office alleged that Stiebritz had contact with the boy at Green Hill before he turned 18, but the teen reportedly told investigators it all happened after he turned 18.
Green Hill School is a medium/maximum security facility for juvenile offenders located in Chehalis and managed by the state Department of Social and Health Services’ Juvenile Justice and Rehabilitation Administration. The facility provides educational and vocational training to male juvenile offenders.
On Dec. 23, 2015, investigators with the Washington State Patrol talked to the alleged victim, who reportedly admitted to having a sexual relationship with Stiebritz. He told detectives some of the alleged sexual contact happened in Stiebritz’ office at Green Hill, and said it happened after he turned 18 in July 2015, according to court documents.
Stiebritz denied having any relationship with the boy.
Stiebritz was a juvenile rehabilitation resident counselor at Green Hill. She was placed on an alternate assignment at the facility in November 2014 after the first allegations of inappropriate behavior with residents surfaced, according to court documents.
Kremer also asked Superior Court Judge James Lawler to seal certain documents related to the case and her sentencing. Lawler granted the request, saying the documents and the case itself “involves very personal, private information.”
