A former Green Hill School employee accused of allowing an assault of an inmate and being involved in sexual misconduct with another inmate in separately filed criminal cases has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor abuse of office.
Michelle Goodman, 31, of Centralia, pleaded guilty to reduced charges on July 30 in Lewis County Superior Court and was sentenced to 364 days in jail with 363 days suspended and one day credit for time served. The sentence is suspended for 24 months, meaning she’ll have no additional jail time for the case if she follows the conditions of her release, which include having no contact with Green Hill School.
A felony charge of third-degree accomplice liability assault was dismissed as part of the plea agreement with the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.
The charges in this case came after Goodman was arrested in March 2024 for allegedly “turning a blind eye” while two Green Hill inmates attacked another inmate in early January.
“On or about January 6, 2024, I was a public servant at a correctional institution known as Green Hill School in Lewis County,” Goodman wrote in her guilty plea. “With the intent to deprive another of a lawful right or privilege, I did intentionally refrain from performing a duty imposed on me by law by allowing an assault to occur within Green Hill School.”
Green Hill School reported the assault to the Chehalis Police Department in late February 2024, according to a news release.
Court documents indicate a Chehalis detective met with the victim at Green Hill on or about Feb. 22, 2024.
The victim reportedly told the detective he “heard someone say, ‘are you fine with this?’” then “heard Ms. Goodman reply ‘It’s my job.’” The other voice then reportedly said “It’s not going to take long, you are the only staff I trust.” Soon after the victim overheard that conversation, a Green Hill School inmate entered the victim’s room “and began to beat him,” according to court documents.
The victim reported that he is a former gang member and said “that the other inmates found out about his past, (and) he was required to be beat to be re-affiliated,” according to court documents.
Video footage of the incident reportedly shows Goodman socializing with inmates at a table. The victim is seen sitting on a couch before returning to his cell.
As soon as the victim entered his cell, an inmate identified as Jose Cisneros, 19, is seen “tapping the wrist” of a juvenile inmate, who then “immediately walks towards (the victim)’s cell,” according to court documents.
The juvenile inmate “appears to linger outside the room … until the Green Hill employee at the central command station appears distracted by drinking out of a thermos.”
The detective noted the employee at the command station was “significantly further away” from the victim’s room than Goodman was, adding that the juvenile inmate “appeared more cautious about that employee than Ms. Goodman, who was sitting approximately 20 feet away.”
After the juvenile inmate entered the victim’s cell, video shows “several inmates and Ms. Goodman look towards the room as if something can be heard.”
The juvenile inmate then reportedly exits the cell, “walks towards another inmate and appears to have a short and animated conversation with him” a few feet away from Goodman.
Cisneros is then reportedly seen walking to the victim’s cell before returning to the table where Goodman and other inmates are gathered.
“While speaking to the group, Mr. Cisneros appears to hold his fingers up to the right side of his face as if he is indicating an injury location,” according to court documents.
Several minutes later, video reportedly shows Cisneros, who was playing cards with Goodman, “smiling while physically animating throwing a punch with his right fist” before holding “his right hand to his face as if he is simulating an injury.”
The detective who viewed the video noted “Ms. Goodman appears to drop her head and laugh.”
An incident report filed by a different Green Hill School employee indicated that a juvenile inmate had reported the assault during a counseling session. That inmate reportedly “stated Ms. Goodman witnessed the assault and at some point stated ‘Alright, enough,’” and told the counselor “he wanted to leave Green Hill after learning staff members would facilitate assaults.”
When interviewed by a Chehalis detective on March 11, Goodman allegedly “claimed she could not recall the incident,” according to court documents
Separate case
In a separate case, Goodman was arrested again in October 2024 for multiple counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct.
“Chehalis detectives were made aware of a possible custodial misconduct at the Green Hill Juvenile Corrections facility involving a female corrections officer and a male inmate,” the Chehalis Police Department stated in a news release after the arrest. “During the detective’s investigation, they learned 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.”
Security footage from the facility reportedly shows Goodman and the inmate meeting in the staff locker area on Jan. 28 and Jan. 29, 2024, according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court.
The inmate’s civil attorney — who is representing him in a lawsuit filed in Thurston County Superior Court earlier this month alleging Goodman groomed him for sex and encouraged him to videotape their sexual encounters — reportedly provided detectives with photos of sexually explicit interactions between Goodman and the inmate. Several of the photographs were taken inside a staff bathroom.
“The photographs show Ms. Goodman in at least three different outfits, indicating at least three different incidents of sexual contact,” according to charging documents.
Goodman pleaded not guilty to the charges, but she has a change of plea hearing set for Sept. 10 in Lewis County Superior Court.
