Wenatchee sex ring

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The Wenatchee sex ring of Wenatchee, Washington was an example of day care sexual abuse hysteria, that occurred in 1994 and 1995. [1] [2]

Contents

[edit] Accusations

The investigation started in January of 1995 when Detective Robert Perez was told by his 13-year-old foster daughter, Donna Perez, that she was sexually molested. She'd said she had been raped or molested by almost every adult she knew, and the same molestation had occurred to almost every other child she knew. On March 13, 1995, Perez put Donna in his police car with two social services caseworkers and they drove through Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. Donna pointed out houses and buildings where she says she and other children were repeatedly raped and molested since January of 1988. She listed 22 locations. [3]

[edit] Arrests

Forty-three adults were arrested on 29,726 charges of child sex abuse, involving 60 children in 1995. [4] Parents and Sunday school teachers were charged and many were convicted of abusing children, often including their own, or their foster children.

[edit] Trial

Dr. Deborah Harper testified in the trial that "one girl showed definite medical signs of sexual abuse and it could not be ruled out for two others." [5] However, prosecutors were unable to provide any physical evidence to support the charges. The main witness was the 13-year-old foster daughter of a police officer, Robert Perez, who had investigated the cases. [6]

[edit] Conviction review summary

Those who were convicted were freed by higher courts and had their convictions overturned or pleaded guilty on lesser charges. Five served their full sentences before their cases were overturned. Some lost parental rights. By 2000 the last person in custody, Michael Rose, was released, after a judge vacated his March 1995 convictions. [7]

[edit] Culpability

In 1996, a consultant, retired Bellevue Police Chief D.P. Van Blaricom, hired by a city insurer who looked into how the Wenatchee police ran the child abuse investigations stated that the cases were handled properly. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation also found that there was no evidence of civil rights violations. [8] In 1998, Dr. Phillip Esplin, a forensic psychologist for the National Institutes of Health's Child Witness Project said that "Wenatchee may be the worst example ever of mental health services being abused by a state ... to control and manage children who have been frightened and coerced into falsely accusing their parents and neighbors of the most heinous of crimes." [9] In 2001, a jury found the city of Wenatchee and Douglas County, Washington negligent in the 1994-1995 investigations. They awarded $3 million to the couple who had been wrongly accused in the inquiry. [2]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Pastor and Wife Are Acquitted on All Charges in Sex-Abuse Case.", New York Times, December 12, 1995. Retrieved on 2007-10-31. "After less than a day of deliberation, a jury today acquitted a lay pastor and his wife of all charges of sexual abuse of children in a trial that critics say demonstrated the worst aspects of police misconduct in such cases. The defendants, Robert and Connie Roberson, were accused of being at the center of a sex ring in which children were ritualistically raped and abused. The Robersons ran a food bank and led a Pentecostal church in the central Washington city of Wenatchee. Prosecutors offered no physical evidence to support the charges. Instead, the main witness was the 13-year-old foster daughter of a police officer, Robert Perez, who investigated the Robersons." 
  2. ^ a b "Jury finds city, county negligent in child sex ring case.", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Wednesday, August 1, 2001. Retrieved on 2007-11-26. "A Spokane County jury yesterday found the city of Wenatchee and Douglas County negligent in the now-discredited 1994-1995 Wenatchee child sex ring investigations, awarding $3 million to a couple who had been wrongly accused in the inquiry." 
  3. ^ "Children sacrificed for the case.", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Monday, February 23, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-11-26. "On the morning of March 13, 1995, Perez put Donna in the front seat of his police car. Two CPS caseworkers were in the back taking notes as they drove through Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. Donna pointed out houses and buildings where she says she and other children were repeatedly raped and molested since January 1988 -- 22 places in all. Along the way she saw a delivery man and a taxi driver. They were added to the list." 
  4. ^ "A record of abuses in Wenatchee.", Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved on 2007-11-26. "The town of Wenatchee, Washington, made world headlines in 1994 and 1995 when police and state social workers undertook what was then called the nation's most extensive child sex-abuse investigation." 
  5. ^ "Doctor confirms abuse in sex-ring case." (scanned reprint), Associated Press, December 5, 1996. "One girl showed definite medical signs of sexual abuse and it could not be ruled for two others, a defense witness testified (Dr Deborah Harper)...in the child rape and molestation trial of a Pentecostal preacher and his wife ... Prosecutors allege unordained pastor Robert "Roby" Roberson and his wife, Connie, has sex with children at the East Wenatchee Pentecostal Church of God House and Prayer and at their home." 
  6. ^ "Pastor and Wife Are Acquitted on All Charges in Sex-Abuse Case.", New York Times, December 12, 1995. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. 
  7. ^ "Last child-sex ring defendant released from prison after court action.", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Wednesday, December 27, 2000. Retrieved on 2007-11-26. "When he got out of prison, Michael Rose hugged his mother and just felt relieved that the ordeal of child-sex ring prosecution was over." 
  8. ^ "Consultant finds no fault in sex ring probe" (scanned reprint), Associated Press in Tri-City Herald, February 22, 1996, pp. A7. "A consultant hired by the city's insurer to look into the way Wenatchee police conducted child sex-abuse investigations said Wednesday the cases were properly handled." 
  9. ^ "Wenatchee abuses attacked nationally.", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 28, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-11-26. "The Wenatchee child sex-abuse investigations are the nation's most blatant example of continuing judicial abuse, civil libertarians and nationally known commentators said at a conference here yesterday."