PINEDALE – Former Sublette County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) deputy Katherine “Kam” Peterson appeared in court on Tuesday to face sentencing after being found guilty of two misdemeanor charges – stalking and electronic impersonation – on April 26, following her two-day trial.

On Tuesday, Circuit Court judge Curt Haws sentenced Peterson to 10 days in jail for the stalking charge, according to court records. She has until Sept. 4, 2017, to serve that sentence.

She was also ordered to pay $80 in court costs and $219.89 to the victim, according to court records. In addition, Peterson was given 18 months of unsupervised probation – six months for the stalking charge and one year for the electronic impersonation charge, to be served consecutively – according to sentencing documents. She is not allowed to have any contact with the victim or the victim’s family during that time.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Sublette County Attorney Clay Kainer argued for jail time, recapping the facts of the case and pointing to Peterson’s status as a law enforcement officer as well as the associated standards of that position.

Peterson also addressed the court with a prepared statement of her own, much of which was devoted to allegations that she, in fact, was “the repeated target of malicious gossip and slander, sexual harassment and discrimination” during her time at the SCSO.

“When I hear that an action I have taken caused someone else to feel as harassed and unsafe as I have been made to feel, it is deeply saddening to me,” she read in court. “And for that, I am very sorry.”

Defense attorney Joanne Sweeney argued that Peterson should not be sentenced to any jail time, hoping to persuade Haws that probation would be sufficient.

But Haws was not swayed, echoing Kainer’s point that Peterson status as a law enforcement officer demanded a higher standard of conduct. And while the defense team tried to argue during the April trial that it was all a prank, Haws pointed to the high tensions and divisions within the SCSO leading up to and at the time of the crimes, thereby undermining that argument and underscoring the seriousness of the offenses.

On April 26, a six-person jury found Peterson guilty of stalking and for unlawful impersonation through electronic means of her former SCSO subordinate Shannon Gehlhausen. During the trial, the prosecution showed that Peterson signed Gehlhausen up for Internet newsletters and websites using Gehlhausen’s work email address – as well as personal information – with the intent to stalk and harass her. The websites were focused on weight loss, sexual health, skin health and psychology. Peterson also used Gehlhausen’s personal information to sign her up with Ashley Madison – a website for those seeking extramarital affairs.