Larimer County jail employee resigns amid investigation into accessing of victim database

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. – A Larimer County Sheriff’s Office worker assigned to the jail resigned Monday amid an internal investigation into allegations she revealed a victim’s information to the suspect in their case.

Bethanie Williamson, 37, resigned from the sheriff’s office on Monday and faces a class 2 misdemeanor of committing a “computer crime.”

The alleged incident happened Jan. 25 during a disturbance in the jail’s day room.

The sheriff’s office says inmates from separate housing areas were in the same day room, which is against jail policy. The sheriff’s office says it found one of the jail employees had violated inmate movement procedure, and it launched an internal investigation.

The guard in question, later found to be Williamson, had gone onto the Colorado courts website and found the contact information of a victim of one of the inmates, whom the sheriff’s office says was in the room while Williamson allegedly accessed the database.

“The employee had no legitimate business reason to access the information,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

But the office also said that investigators contacted the victim whose information was accessed and found that it was not used for any malfeasance.

Williamson resigned Monday and was issued a criminal summons for her charge. She started working as the jail as a non-certified deputy in February 2007.

“When it comes to maintaining records, deputies have access to sensitive information they are not authorized to release to the general public even if that information can be obtained from other sources. If a deputy violates internal policies or certainly the law, they will be held accountable,” Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said in a news release.

He added that Williamson’s alleged actions “do not reflect the values and principles” of the rest of the sheriff’s office.