Oct. 17—A former Green Hill School corrections officer, already facing charges for allegedly “turning a blind eye” to an attack at the facility in January, was rearrested Wednesday on multiple counts of first-degree sexual misconduct.
Michelle Goodman, 31, of Centralia, was arrested without incident on Oct. 16 around 6:20 p.m., Chehalis police said.
“Earlier this month, Chehalis detectives were made aware of possible misconduct at the Green Hill Juvenile Corrections facility involving a female correctional officer and a male inmate,” Chehalis police said in a news release Thursday. “During the detective’s investigation, they learned that Ms. Goodman was employed by Green Hill as a corrections officer and during that time had sexual relations with a 23-year-old male inmate.”
Goodman was previously arrested on March 11 for prison riot, abuse of office and fourth-degree conspiracy to commit assault for her alleged involvement in a January incident in which two Green Hill inmates attacked another inmate.
She was released on $20,000 unsecured bail on March 12 and remained in custody until her arrest on Wednesday.
Goodman had a preliminary hearing for the sexual misconduct charges in Lewis County Superior Court on Thursday, October 17 at 4 p.m.
“This incident remains under investigation and no further information regarding the case will be released at this time,” Chehalis police said in the news release.
“This is the fifth person employed by Green Hill that we have arrested in 2024, three of which involved sexual misconduct,” Chehalis police said.
All five former Green Hill employees arrested this year for alleged violations at the facility were working as corrections staff when the alleged violations occurred.
Emily Norene Baker, 29, of Chehalis, was arrested Aug. 8 for abuse of office and tampering with a witness for allegedly helping to facilitate an inappropriate sexual relationship between another corrections officer and an adult inmate. She is also accused of talking to the other corrections officer about the case after her arrest. She has denied pleading guilty to all charges and is being held in the Lewis County Jail on $100,000 bail. The trial had not yet been scheduled as of Thursday morning.
The other employee, Angel M. Misner, 32, of Ethel, was charged July 25 with first-degree misconduct, second-degree misconduct and witness tampering. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is being held in the Lewis County Jail on $500,000 bail. The trial starts on October 21.
Eddie Antonio Zavala, 37, of Winlock, was arrested in July for allegedly selling meth and other contraband to an inmate on June 15. His case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the case could be refiled in the same court on October 15, according to court documents.
Months earlier, on Jan. 19, Aaron D. Snideman, 42, of Centralia, was arrested for allegedly bringing marijuana to the facility. He was acquitted in a non-jury trial on August 30, according to court documents.
The alleged violations committed by Green Hill School corrections staff are part of a pattern of increasing crime and violence at the institution.
“After reviewing reported crimes involving Greenhill School in recent years, in 2022, 15
Incidents have been reported, 74 incidents have been reported in 2023 and 184 so far in 2024.
Incidents have been reported,” Chehalis police said. “If this trend continues, the number of reported incidents will triple this year compared to 2023.”
Green Hill and Chehalis Police officials last September developed guidelines for transferring evidence and established a process to create comprehensive evidence packages to accompany evidence.
Prior to that, the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) served an arrest warrant at Green Hill and seized evidence that they claimed had not been properly stored.
Overcrowding at Green Hill School has been cited as one of the reasons for the increase in crime at the school, including drug possession, assault and other charges. According to previous Chronicle reports, 228 acts of aggression have occurred this year at state youth rehabilitation centers across the state as of July 23.
Chehalis City Manager Stacy Denham, who was chief of the Centralia Police Department when JNET issued the warrant in Green Hill, said in September that the Chehalis Police Department has two detectives dedicated to investigating incidents at Green Hill School and may have additional help needs from neighboring agencies. .
“The Chehalis Police Department will continue to aggressively investigate those involved in criminal activity at Green Hill School,” the Chehalis Police Department said in the news release. “Anyone with information regarding this incident or any other criminal activity occurring at Green Hill School (is) encouraged to contact the Chehalis Police Department at 360-748-8605.”
