At least two employees engaged in sexual relationships with inmates at Washington’s most secure juvenile detention facility, recording their encounters on video and exposing troubling lapses in security and supervision.
In the predawn hours one morning in April 2024, a guard at Green Hill School unlocked a cell door, allowing a young double-murder convict to slip through the darkened hallways to meet another staff member in a linen closet.
Court records and state documents reveal that at least two employees engaged in sexual relationships with inmates, recording their encounters on video. The cases have raised urgent questions about oversight and institutional culture at a facility that costs taxpayers $625 per day per inmate, more than three times the rate of housing adults at Washington’s maximum-security penitentiary.
Emily Baker, a former security officer at the Department of Children, Youth and Families facility, was sentenced in October to 84 months in prison for custodial sexual misconduct and smuggling contraband. Prosecutors presented video evidence showing Baker with a 22-year-old inmate in a windowless closet for 18 minutes during lockdown hours, when inmates should have been secured in their cells.
The inmate, Robbrie Thompson, is serving time for two murders committed in 2019, including the killing of a Puyallup shopkeeper and an accomplice he feared would report him to authorities.
Investigators say another security officer, Jerry Graham, unlocked Thompson’s cell door around 4:55 a.m. to facilitate the encounter, though it remains unclear whether he knew of the planned rendezvous. The video shows the pair being interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by a phone call in which a male voice scolds Baker.
Three months before Baker’s arrest, another staff member, Michelle Goodman, recorded similar acts with a 23-year-old inmate in the employee locker room. Goodman, who had already been dismissed for unrelated misconduct, pleaded guilty in September to custodial sexual misconduct and smuggling contraband. She awaits sentencing.
The young man involved in that case filed a lawsuit last October claiming he was “repeatedly sexually assaulted” by Goodman, who “abused her position of power” over him. Prosecutors in Lewis County were unaware of that case.
“It tells me that there’s something wrong with the environment,” said Brandi Archer, the Lewis County deputy prosecutor who handled Baker’s case. “This is during lockdown hours. And it tells me that there’s more going on that we haven’t been able to find out about everything that’s going on in Green Hill.”
Experts in juvenile justice say the pattern suggests systemic problems rather than isolated incidents.
“One hundred percent, it’s the culture of the place that allows it,” said Jill Sharkey, an associate dean at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who studies juvenile justice. “I think the culture needs to change.”
The revelations come at a delicate moment for juvenile rehabilitation in Washington. Youth facilities like Green Hill emphasize education, job training and intense therapy, operating on the premise that young offenders can be reformed. The state’s investment reflects that philosophy: Green Hill’s daily per-inmate cost dwarfs that of adult institutions.
“To think we can just put them in prison and, la, la, la, hope it’s OK when they get out, when we train them to be a criminal, won’t work,” Sharkey said.
Gov. Bob Ferguson, who took office this year, has moved quickly to address the crisis. His administration has installed new leadership throughout the juvenile justice system, including a new secretary for the Department of Children, Youth and Families, a new assistant secretary for juvenile rehabilitation, and new superintendents at all three of the state’s secure youth facilities.
“Governor Ferguson inherited a challenging situation,” said Brionna Aho, a spokeswoman for the governor. “In his first year, the governor has appointed a new DCYF secretary, and we have a new assistant secretary of juvenile rehabilitation, and new superintendents at all three secure facilities. The governor understands the challenges and is working with his team to address them.”
The department, now led by Tana Senn, a former state representative, attributed many of last year’s problems to overcrowding. Officials point to recent progress: In the first half of this year, 59 inmates earned high school diplomas, a record number for the facility.
But the convictions of Baker and Goodman have left prosecutors and juvenile justice advocates questioning how deep the problems run at Green Hill, and how many other breaches may have gone undetected.
Harold Wright Jr., the facility’s new superintendent, faces the challenge of restoring security and public confidence at an institution meant to offer Washington’s most troubled young people a path toward rehabilitation, not exploitation.
In a statement, the DCYF said overcrowding at its facilities impacts overall safety and employee misconduct.
“Overcrowding is a contributing factor to this problem,” said Nancy Gutierrez, director of external communications. “While DCYF makes every effort to maintain staffing in compliance with PREA, overcrowding impacts safety.”
Staff at facilities like Green Hill are required to undergo background and reference checks, as well as annual training on professional boundaries, expectations while working and Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) training.
“DCYF leadership repeatedly reminds staff that there is a zero tolerance for staff misconduct,” Gutierrez said. “When we discover staff misconduct, we open an investigation and while under investigation, staff are immediately placed on administrative leave or assigned to duties that do not involve interacting with young people.”
The agency said it has a zero tolerance for sexual abuse and misconduct.
