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Charge: Juvenile rehab counselor engaged in sexual misconduct with minor

2015.0612.lawandorder.final [1]

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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An arraignment is scheduled for next week for a Centralia woman accused of having a sexual relationship with a male 20 years her junior while he was a resident of Green Hill School and she was employed as a juvenile rehabilitation counselor.

The complaint was made by the alleged victim in the summer of 2016, but criminal charges were just filed last month in Lewis County Superior Court.

Katherine M. Kimbrel, 41, was summonsed to appear before a judge on Tuesday and was allowed release pending trial on a $5,000 unsecured bond.

The alleged incidents occurred between Jan. 1, 2013, when the alleged victim was 15 years old, and continued through Dec. 31, 2015 after he turned 18, according to charging documents.

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.

The alleged victim, now 20, said he and Kimbrel had sexual contact which continued when he was in custody at the the juvenile detection center’s Touchstone Community facility in Olympia, according to charging documents. Touchstone is a transitional facility.

He said on several occasions she picked him up from his workplace in Olympia and took him to her apartment, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer wrote in the court documents.

Kimbrel allegedly admitted to an unprofessional sexual relationship with the teen both inside and outside the Green Hill School facility, but denied any physical contact inside the facility, according to Meyer. She was interviewed by a detective Bjorkman and by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Meyer wrote.

Meyer indicates she said she did not report some actions, because she was afraid she would be blamed and lose her job. Numerous incomplete sentences in the charging documents leave it unclear which facility is the setting related to some of the various statements.

Meyer states in the charging documents that prior to the alleged victim coming forward on Aug. 13, 2016, three additional allegations regarding Kimbrel were investigated but screened out for lack of evidence.

She was charged on Jan. 9 with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor and first-degree custodial sexual misconduct, both of which are offenses with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. She was also charged with communication with a minor for immoral purposes, a gross misdemeanor.

Kimbrel was ordered to undergo administrative booking at the Lewis County Jail. Defense attorney Jacob Clark was appointed to represent her.

The arraignment is set for next Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.