Whatcom deputy arrested for smuggling contraband talked with inmate for months, records show
A Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office corrections deputy who was arrested earlier this week has allegedly been smuggling items and communicating with a female inmate for months, according to records filed in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Christopher Frederic Baetz, 41, of Blaine, was arrested Feb. 8 on suspicion of second-degree introducing contraband into a correctional facility, which is a felony. Formal charges have not yet been filed against Baetz, according to court records.
Baetz has been employed with the sheriff’s office since 2006 and will be relieved from duty pending appropriate administrative action, according to a sheriff’s office press release. Baetz was placed on paid administrative leave effective Feb. 8, which is standard protocol, according to Deb Slater, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office.
Baetz has not been the subject of other complaints or internal affairs investigations, Slater said.
“Members of the Sheriff’s Office charged with the custody, care, and well-being of inmates are held to very high standards,” Sheriff Bill Elfo said in a press release on the arrest. “The criminal conduct of Mr. Baetz in this matter represents a complete abrogation of those standards, expectations, and organizational norms. His actions are not representative of the value of other Sheriff’s Office employees.”
The report
On Feb. 7, an inmate at the Whatcom County Work Center on Division Street handed a corrections deputy a letter with concerns about a female inmate.
The letter said the woman had a cell phone. The inmate who wrote the letter said it was an uncomfortable decision to make the report, but said the situation had been occurring for months, according to court records.
Deputies searched the unit where the female inmate, who is accused of murdering a family member, was incarcerated. A bag of prescription and non-prescription medications was found during a strip-search of the woman, according to court records.
A corrections deputy witnessed the woman allegedly try to hide a cell phone. In addition to the cell phone, deputies found one vape pen, three phone chargers, two portable phone chargers, one electronic cigarette pen head, two Velcro sticky pads and one electronic cigarette pouch, one bottle of e-juice, two individually packaged round marijuana gummies, one e-cigarette and one pair of headphones in the woman’s bunk, the court records show.
When asked how she was getting the items, the woman told a deputy he would be able to tell by reading the text messages that were on the cell phone. The woman would not disclose who was bringing her the contraband, but said it was a deputy, according to the records.
When the deputy looked through the phone, he found messages from four different names. After reading through the messages, the deputy determined it was “Batman” who was bringing items to the woman, court records state.
The text messages included references to who “Batman” was working with on certain dates, pictures from him and other personal information. Baetz was identified as “Batman,” the records state.
The inmate who wrote the letter also identified Baetz as the deputy bringing contraband to the woman. The inmate said the woman and Baetz had been passing notes to one another for several months when he was working. The inmate said Baetz would frequently call into the unit on the attorney phone at night and talk for hours with the woman, court records state.
The investigation
The sheriff’s office directed a detective to further investigate a day later, on Feb. 8, according to court records.
During an interview with sheriff’s detectives, the woman said after her first month of incarceration she experienced a panic attack and Baetz talked to her and calmed her down, the court records state. The woman said the two began “a genuine friendship” and would talk about their lives, the records state.
Roughly two or three months ago, Baetz and the woman started exchanging letters that detailed their lives, kids, and other details. At least two of the letters were of a sexual nature, according to court records.
The woman said they would talk about life and “indicated that he did get her through the ‘day to day stuff’,” the court records state.
In mid-January, the woman asked Baetz to get her a cellphone, which he brought her in a brown paper bag during breakfast, the records show. The pair used the phone to talk through text messages and phone calls. The woman also sent almost a dozen photographs to Baetz, the records state.
The woman said she and Baetz would communicate while he was both on and off duty, and that on his days off he would message her in the morning and they’d communicate throughout the day, court records show.
The woman said Baetz gave the contraband to her in a brown bag at breakfast, during clothing or towel exchanges or he would place them in the shower in her unit so she could get them, according to court records.
Baetz checked the woman’s property box for anxiety medication after she told him about her anxiety, but Baetz didn’t find anything. He then brought her three marijuana gummies to help with her anxiety, and the woman allegedly ate one, according to court records.
The woman sent $45 to Baetz through her Paypal account so he didn’t have to pay for the items he was giving her, the records state. Baetz used the $45 to purchase healthy food from Amazon, which he would bring to the woman when they arrived, the records state.
Baetz was arrested as he arrived for work and was taken into custody without incident, the records show.
He was released on his personal recognizance and his arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 26.
Baetz is the first employee at the Whatcom County Jail or the Work Center to be arrested since two incidents in 2019, when a Mount Vernon woman who worked for a jail food service vendor was suspected of smuggling Suboxone strips and heroin to jail inmates and a male corrections deputy was accused of having an intimate relationship with a female inmate at the jail.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
