Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Former Chehalis Chief of Police and Fire Services Randy C. Hamilton passed away on Saturday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, at age 65.

Randy C. Hamilton
1951 – 2016

Hamilton retired from the city of Chehalis in March 2002, and went on to work for the U.S. Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center traveling the country and teaching, according to his daughter.

“He taught a lot of classes, all over the U.S. really, and even Guam,” Kalessa Markham said.

The Chehalis native moved to the Tacoma area about 10 years ago and worked as a handyman and then, as general manager of a bar in Tacoma called The Mix, Markham said.

He retired for good in August and decided he would move to a place he enjoyed visiting so much, she said.

Markham said her father’s death was unexpected, but he died peacefully with family members around him.

“I’m realizing what an impact he had, not just in our community, but everywhere,” she said. “It’s so nice to know he’s missed by so many people.”

Hamilton began his law enforcement career as a Lewis County sheriff’s deputy, spending his last five years as the undersheriff. He ran for sheriff, and lost. Then in 1987 was hired by the city of Chehalis.

Hamilton leaves behind three children, three grandchildren and other family.

A public viewing at Brown Mortuary in Chehalis is scheduled for tomorrow between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. A family graveside service will be held on Saturday.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday Oct. 1 at 2 p.m. at the Chehalis Middle School Commons. Everyone is welcome, his daughter said.

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

Tyler M. McKee and his lawyer face a judge this morning in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A former Chehalis man admitted today he took advantage of a 13-year-old girl at a Centralia party when he was 19 years old.

Tyler M. McKee has been held since the end of July on $100,000 bail in the Lewis County Jail in connection with the 2012 case.

He and his lawyer made a deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child molestation, while a charge of second-degree rape of a child was dropped.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt asked McKee if the words printed on his admission were what happened, that on May 4, 2012, he had sexual contact with a person under 14 and encouraged, aided and abetted another to also have sexual contact with the same victim.

McKee agreed and the judge asked if McKee knew her age.

“No, I didn’t know,” McKee said.

Earlier this summer, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office secured an arrest warrant for one of three males the 13-year-old girl believed engaged in sex with her at the party, when she was so drunk she could not walk. DNA collected from her pants and McKee were a match, according to court documents.

The now 22-year-old was living in Las Vegas and returned to Lewis County at the end of July.

After this morning’s court hearing, the judge imposed a no-bail hold and scheduled a date to return to court for Oct. 20.

His sentencing can’t take place until after the state Department of Corrections completes a pre-sentencing investigation in which the state agency will make its recommendation for how long he should be locked up.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead said the standard sentencing range for McKee is 31 to 41 months and the state will recommend 41.

McKee is represented by Centralia lawyer J.P. Enbody.

Another 22-year-old was arrested last week in connection with the same incident. Geffrey A. Duncan of Chehalis is charged with second-degree rape of a child.

He told the judge when he appeared in court on Friday he has no idea who the victim is. His bail was $25,000.
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For background, read “Suspect in rape of girl at 2012 Centralia party arrested in Vegas” from Monday August 1, 2016, here

Diana M. Rogerson consults with her lawyer Chris Baum today in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 37-year-old mother entered into a plea agreement and was sentenced today in a case in which she spanked her 7-year-old daughter so hard it left a bruise.

Diana M. Rogerson was given 60 days in jail and ordered to undergo drug and alcohol treatment as well as treatment pertaining to domestic violence, according to Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt told Rogerson her right to possess firearms is revoked, following her plea of guilty to fourth-degree assault domestic violence.

Rogerson was charged in June with third-degree assault of a child shortly after her husband was charged with the same offense for a different incident involving the girl, his stepdaughter.

Joseph W. Rogerson was arrested after the girl told a school counselor her step-father punched her in the arm when she tried to get him to stop hitting her mom, while the family was target shooting in the woods near Pe Ell.

The family lived in Pe Ell.

Because of the arrest, Joseph Rogerson, 37, lost his deferred prosecution in a case of driving under the influence, from an arrest last summer after a head-on crash in Onalaska that killed three teenagers. The investigation by the Washington State Patrol concluded he was traveling in his own lane and not to blame for the wreck.

Joseph Rogerson has pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault and is awaiting sentencing in Lewis County District Court.

The case was assigned to Child Protective Services. The children went to live with their father in Toledo.

Diana Rogerson will be allowed to serve her time with electronic home monitoring, if she qualifies, according to Halstead. Otherwise she will have to check in to the Lewis County Jail by Oct. 11. The judge also ordered her not to have any contact with her daughter, until she fulfills her obligations, he said.

She admitted taking a folded belt to her daughter, something the girl’s older brother told deputies happened after the child  refused to say prayers at dinnertime.
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For background, read “Pe Ell mother faces charge of assault of her child” from Tuesday June 21, 2016, here