The gruesome arrest affidavit of Letecia Stauch showed how the accused murderer of 11-year-old Gannon Stauch allegedly left the child’s blood splattering the walls, soaking the carpet and staining the mattress. Leaked before it was unsealed, the premature release of the record has been said to have put the case in the public domain before Colorado prosecutors had a chance to report their findings to Stauch’s family.
Now, a local news outlet has reported that Sherie Farstveet, a 54-year-old former paralegal in the city of Brighton, has admitted in court to releasing the document. She pleaded guilty on Dec. 10 to a count of attempted official misconduct. Her conviction would stay publicly unreported for nearly two weeks before the local outlet, The Gazette, broke the news.
Stauch’s prosecutor Michael Allen said a true crime website published it. Back in a May press conference, he did not name Farstveet, but she was quickly identified elsewhere.
“I know that the person does not work for the court system per se, but does have a log-in to get into the court system,” he told reporters. “And was able to access the affidavit before the seal was lifted, and accessed it that way before leaking it. Those are the allegations.”
At the time, he voiced doubt that the release of the affidavit would affect the Stauch case, but added the leak deprived Gannon’s birth parents “of the right and respect that they deserve as victims in this case to really have chance to see it before. They are just confronted with it on the media or online.”
Farstveet, who had worked for the Brighton City Attorney’s Office as a paralegal, was reportedly ordered by the judge to pay $100 fine and $199.50 in court costs.
“Sherie Farstveet is no longer employed by the City of Brighton and we have no additional comment,” spokesman Zachary Reece told Law&Crime in an email Wednesday morning.
Letecia Stauch, Gannon’s stepmother, is accused of murdering the child, and hiding his body. She allegedly tried to play it off by saying the 11-year-old went missing out going out to a friend’s home. Police claim she changed her story multiple times, and displayed “abnormal behavior,” such as getting a rental car, disconnecting for cell phone for a long period of time, making up an alleged rape, and leaving the state.
Correction – 7:08 p.m.: A passage in the original version of this article incorrectly identified Farstveet as a paralegal for Adams County. We have also corrected two instances of misspelling the last name “Stauch.”
[Image via El Paso County Sheriff’s Office]
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