Former Lewis County corrections officer Trevor Smith leaves the courtroom after making his initial appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center in Chehalis.
A recently fired Lewis County Jail sergeant was arrested and booked into his former workplace Monday afternoon for felony counts of suspected computer trespass for allegedly using another employee’s login information to access restricted information, even after his termination.
Trevor S. Smith was hired in 2004, promoted to sergeant in 2011 and fired in late June after an internal investigation revealed the alleged mistreatment of an inmate, said Sheriff Steve Mansfield.
It was not Smith’s first time facing this type of allegation.
A few days after he was fired, employees at the sheriff’s office realized the 35-year-old Chehalis man was remotely accessing electronic files on the agency’s server from his home computer by using a jail lieutenants’ login and password information, according to court documents.
Authorities are also investigating the possibility that Smith cheated on his 2011 sergeant’s exam, which led to his promotion and a pay increase, Mansfield said. If evidence is found to support that allegation, it may amount to additional charges of theft.
“We don’t know the full extent of this yet,” Mansfield added. “The investigation is still going on and we could have some additional charges.”
When Smith took the exam, there were suspicions of cheating due to Smith’s high score, Mansfield said.
“I am just extremely disappointed,” the sheriff said. “It’s embarrassing for the organization.”
On Tuesday, Smith, dressed in green jail garb with handcuffs on his wrists, was escorted into Lewis County Superior Court for a preliminary hearing by two Lewis County detectives.
Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said Smith had been “housed elsewhere” overnight and not at the jail.
Prosecutors charged Smith with five counts of first-degree computer trespass, which is a class C felony and carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt set unsecured bail at $10,000.
Smith is currently appealing his termination through the union, the sheriff said.
Mansfield declined to release details about what amounted to Smith’s June termination, but when asked if Smith hurt anybody, the sheriff paused for several seconds before answering.
“You might say that,” Mansfield said, adding that no one was taken to the hospital or sustained injuries from Smith.
The Chronicle has filed a public disclosure request for all internal investigations pertaining to Smith’s discipline.
The issue that resulted in his termination was not an isolated incident but rather Smith demonstrating a “pattern of unacceptable performance,” the sheriff said.
“Smith was terminated for exceeding the authority I granted him in caring and dealing with prisoners in my jail,” Mansfield said. “He stepped outside his umbrella of authority of protection provided by our code of ethics, ethical values, policies and procedures and most of importantly his oath of office.
“In doing so, he irreparably damaged the trust, faith and confidence that not only myself but my entire agency and leadership must have in my employees to carry out their duty,” Mansfield continued.
In early July, after learning about the possibility Smith was still looking at confidential files from home, the sheriff asked detectives from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the matter.
“We had been going through a termination process and I didn’t want to mix the two of them,” Mansfield said.
On July 14, Thurston County Detective Sgt. Ray Brady contacted Smith, who agreed to speak with the Thurston County investigator, court documents state.
Smith told Brady he accessed his supervisor’s email system while still employed at the jail when he was reassigned to administrative duties, pending the outcome of the internal investigation. He said he had received the login information from the lieutenant several years prior.
Smith also admitted he looked at other files, including the “leadership” folder on the server, which contained disciplinary files, according to court documents. He told Brady he did it to look into matters relating to him and to other people. He also confirmed he continued to access the files from his home computer, even after he was fired.
Mansfield said he did not know what Smith’s intentions were when accessing the restricted files.
“Sometimes you can’t make sense of why someone would do the things they do,” Mansfield said. “It caught us all by surprise — the extent of this.”
Smith will appear in court next on July 24. He intends to hire his own attorney.
