Erin Snodgrass is escorted out of the courtroom to jail after hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Green Hill School counselor who engaged in a sexual relationship with a student-inmate was sentenced today to 14 days in jail plus 46 treatment sessions.
Erin Snodgrass, also known as Erin Stiebritz, was arrested in January following an investigation that began after a letter was intercepted at the state juvenile detention facility.
The student, who turned 18 during the period of time in question, told detectives they had sex a few times in her office, according to court documents.
Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court he and her lawyer came to an agreement to recommend she be sentenced to a lower than usual amount of time.
Snodgrass, 37, pleaded guilty to first-degree custodial sexual misconduct in July, an offense with a standard sentencing range of six to 12 months in jail.
Halstead said the reason for less time included the fact that she has taken responsibility for it and also the interview with the student was not recorded and he later denied everything.
Snodgrass began working at Green Hill in June 2013. The events investigated occurred during the latter half of 2014. She has been free and out of custody with an unsecured bond since her arrest.
Defense attorney Blake Kremer told the judge his client takes all of this very seriously.
“She made a terrible mistake,” Kremer said. “That’s what she’ll be paying for forever.”
He noted her family stands by her, although she didn’t want them to come to the hearing. Kremer pointed out three friends in the courtroom who were there to support Snodgrass.
She addressed the court, her voice breaking.
“This has really done a lot of damage to my family and my friends,” Snodgrass said.
Judge James Lawler said he’d read the pre-sentencing report and the sentencing memorandum, and it was obvious to him the defendant felt remorse. He adopted the recommended sentence.
On paper, she was given 60 days in jail, however all but 14 of those days were each converted to one treatment session.
Neither Halstead nor Kremer mentioned, nor would they say outside the courtroom, the nature of the treatment.
Green Hill in Chehalis is run by the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, a division of the Department of Social and Health Services. It’s a secure facility in Chehalis that provides older, male offenders education and vocational training.
Earlier this year, the state Department of Health suspended Snodgrass’s counselor credential for at least four years.
The judge also ordered that she serve 12 months of community custody and have no contact with the victim.
Snodgrass was taken into custody at the end of the hearing.
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For background, read “Guilty plea accepted in Green Hill counselor-inmate sex case” from Wednesday July 27, 2016, here
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