A fired substance abuse counselor who worked at Lino Lakes prison has been spared being sent to prison for sexually assaulting an inmate in her office.
Stephanie M. Chase, 48, of Lindstrom, Minn., was sentenced Thursday in Anoka County District Court to 15 years' probation after pleading guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with two encounters in November 2021.
As part of Chase's sentence, Judge Jenny Walker Jasper set aside a four-year term that would have included more than 2½ years of that time in prison and the rest on supervised release. A probation violation could put Chase at risk of having the four-year term reinstated.
The judge also dismissed one count of possessing contraband and three counts of witness tampering against Chase.
Chase was hired by the state Department of Corrections in April 2019 and fired Feb. 27, a department spokesman said.
According to the criminal complaint:
An inmate told a prison investigator that three inmates had consumed gummies from Chase containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
The investigator found sexually explicit emails to one of the inmates describing what "Jennifer Johnson" wanted to do with him. Phone calls to the inmate were associated with the same name, but actually came from Chase.
