By Emily Fitzgerald / [email protected]
A Green Hill School corrections employee was arrested Thursday on charges of possibly having an inappropriate sexual relationship with an adult inmate, assisting in facilitating an inappropriate sexual relationship between another corrections employee and an adult inmate and discussing the case with the other employee after her arrest.
Emily Norene Baker, 29, of Chehalis was reportedly under investigation for suspected correctional misconduct when Angel M. Misner, 32, of Ethel, a fellow Green Hill Correctional Facility inmate, was arrested on July 24, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
On July 25, Misner was charged with first- and second-degree criminal mischief and witness tampering for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a former Green Hill inmate and providing the inmate with contraband.
Child Protective Services turned the investigation over to Chehalis police on July 19 after Green Hill Correctional Facility officials found recordings of phone conversations between Misner and the adult inmate after he was transferred to a facility at the State Correctional Institution (DOC) in Shelton.
The adult inmate was one of 43 adult inmates transferred to DOC custody in July to reduce overcrowding, court documents show. A Thurston County Superior Court judge ordered Friday, July 19, that those inmates must be returned to the facility within two weeks.
“During the discussions, it emerged that another employee, Emily Baker, was involved in similar cases of sexual misconduct,” according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court.
The adult inmate allegedly “mentioned that Baker had photos or videos of them on a cell phone in her locker,” according to court documents. Investigators later found video footage of Baker entering a pantry on April 1, 2024. The adult inmate was observed entering the same pantry six minutes after Baker. The inmate is observed leaving the pantry approximately 18 minutes later, and Baker is observed leaving the pantry approximately 14 minutes after the inmate.
“There are no cameras in the pantry,” court documents state.
According to court documents, investigators did find “group chat” messages and calls between the inmate while he was in DOC custody. The recovered messages included “boudoir-style photos of Misner and Baker” sent to the adult inmate.
After Misner’s arrest on July 24, he allegedly called Baker, who allegedly included the adult inmate in the conversation, establishing three-way calls over the prison phone system.
During those phone calls, Baker and the inmate allegedly told Misner to “not write anything incriminating” and “talk about the news reporters who would likely be in the courtroom, about whether anyone had come to talk to (the inmate) about what happened, and about a similar case involving a former Green Hill employee and how she got caught,” according to court documents.
In another three-way conversation, Misner reportedly told Baker that she always tries to see the positive in everything, to which Baker responded, “If something happens to me, I hope I get that, but I probably won’t.” She also reportedly said, “I really hope I get that with you guys, I mean that.”
Baker, Misner and the inmate also reportedly discussed the details of Misner’s case, including “that there is a witness but they don’t know who it is,” and they talked about getting prepaid SIM cards and distributing them to relatives “because they are obviously listening in on their phone conversations” from prison phones, court documents show.
Baker also reportedly said she received a text message telling her not to go to the Green Hill School campus in Chehalis because “it was a trap.”
Misner, who was apparently fired from Green Hill without her knowledge the week before her arrest, was taken into custody at the Green Hill campus after being asked there as part of the investigation, the Chronicle previously reported.
On August 8, according to court documents, Baker allegedly arranged a phone call between the inmate and a law firm “concerning sexual abuse by a Green Hill employee.” After the law firm declined the case and hung up, Baker and the inmate allegedly called the law firm a profanity and then called another law firm.
According to jail records, Baker was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 3:40 p.m. on August 8.
On Friday, August 9, she was charged with abuse of office and witness tampering.
“Given the nature of this case and who she is manipulating or assisting in manipulating, I will be requesting a high bail amount,” Assistant District Attorney Paul Massiello said during Baker’s preliminary hearing Friday in Lewis County Superior Court.
Masiello requested that Baker’s bail be set at $100,000, an amount that defense attorney Rachael Tiller disputed.
“The allegations made here are entirely different from those to which Mr. Masiello refers,” Tiller said Friday, referring to Misner’s case.
Tiller also pointed to Baker’s lack of criminal record and the presence of her family in the courtroom on Friday to support her.
“She understands that under no circumstances can she have contact with witnesses in this case,” Tiller said.
“That is my concern, that she does not understand that she is not allowed to have contact with witnesses in this case,” Judge Joely Yeager said in response, adding that the details of the phone conversations included in the allegations indicate that Baker “clearly does not take the case seriously.”
While Yeager acknowledged there was little risk that Baker would flee or pose a threat to public safety, he said, “The court’s greatest concern is that she is likely to interfere with the administration of justice.”
Yeager ultimately granted Masiello’s request for $100,000 bail.
The arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, August 15.
Baker’s case is the fifth brought this year in Lewis County Superior Court against Green Hill School correctional staff for alleged misconduct at the facility.
In addition to Misner’s arrest, another correctional employee was arrested in July for allegedly selling meth and other contraband to an inmate on June 15. That employee was charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance in a state or county correctional facility by a non-inmate and second-degree introduction of contraband.
A correctional employee was arrested in March for allegedly “looking the other way” when two Green Hill inmates attacked another inmate in early January. The employee faces one count each of prison riot, abuse of authority and conspiracy to commit fourth-degree assault.
According to Chehalis police, another correctional employee was arrested months earlier for allegedly bringing controlled substances into the facility.
The juvenile detention center has been criticized several times over the past year by former Centralia Police Chief Stacy Denham and Republican Senate Leader John Braun (R-Centralia). Braun called on Gov. Jay Inslee to launch an investigation. Inslee refused to do so, but pointed out that there have been security improvements at the facility since JNET served the warrant.
The state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCFY), which operates Green Hill School, announced Friday, July 5, that the juvenile detention center will temporarily close off admissions until the facility reaches a “sustainable size” of occupancy.
This move comes five years after the new youth penalty law “JR to 25” came into force, allowing some offenders to serve their sentence in a youth rehabilitation facility even after they reach the age of majority.
Instead of being sent to Green Hill or Echo Glen, DCYF said newly convicted offenders would remain incarcerated in county detention centers with financial support from the agency.
After several counties sued DCYF over the move, DCYF announced Friday that it had “reached an agreement” with county governments to lift the admissions freeze. According to a press release, admissions resumed at Echo Glen “several weeks ago” and at Green Hill on Aug. 9.
When two Chronicle reporters toured Green Hill in late March, a spokesman said the facility housed more than 200 residents, which went beyond “best practices.”
