None of the interviews, or the adults' confessions, was taped. Gomez, 267 F.3d 895, 907 (9th Cir.2001) (internal quotations omitted). The caseworker advised him to be patient. Five served their full sentences before their cases were overturned. THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE FAKE SEX RING THAT CHANGED WENATCHEE FOREVERQ. Perez, looks a lot like Annette Funicello and exudes wholesome determination. "Fact is, people find this kind of thing very difficult to believe. Kenneth Lanning, the FBI's child-abuse specialist, has advised against taping, saying it creates a "highly subjective piece of evidence.". What would you say to him if he were alive today? - Provide support to Hub members regarding detective controls processes (B2R, B2C, P2P, MDM). Defense attorneys questioned the foundation of the charges, citing physician diagnoses that revealed "the alleged victims suffered from various forms of psychological problems including attention-deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychotic disorders and other impairments.". 22, Ex. [43], Critics maintained that these cases were mishandled by the police and proper protocol was not followed when interviewing the children. [12], In 1997, Pastor Roby and Connie Roberson attended the "Day of Contrition" conference in Salem, Massachusetts, along with other victims and experts of the day-care sex-abuse hysteria.[6][87][88]. Donna pointed out houses and buildings . "Chip" Small (judge in the Roberson case) and Carol Wardell (judge in earlier cases) with professional misconduct. Debate rages in Wenatchee and across the country over whether children are reliable witnesses. Sadie Knowles), described as "low IQ",[77] and "who described herself as developmentally disabled", said "I pleaded guilty to something I didn't understand," and must continue to register as a sex offender. Fox Nation'sIn the Valley of Sindocumentsthe perseverance and resilience of the accused and their supporters in the face of overwhelming odds, untold suffering, and unthinkable accusations. App. [85][11] In September 1995, Grant wrote, "Now I know what it's like to be falsely accused. Eventually, both Cherie and Meredith Town bowed to punishment. . In March, with her parents in prison, the Everett child began making new allegations: Dozens of adults had regularly forced her and countless other children to have sex. Attempting to leave Wenatchee quietly, he stopped by the Douglas County sheriff's office to purchase a trip permit for his rig. Some time later, she began "having fun" with her older, mentally disabled child. After speaking one-on-one to many of the then-children who were coerced into accusing their mothers and fathers of molesting them, I have one word for Mr. Perez: "SHAME!" Luci Perez, wife of Det. In early August 1994, Perez paid another visit to Cherie Town, who was in the Chelan County Jail awaiting sentencing. The distinction blurred with the availability of family-wage, factory jobs. A. A few days later, Child Protective Services concluded that the allegations of sexual abuse were "unsubstantiated," adding that police investigators had found "nothing prosecutable." ." "To start with, Randy and Mike kind of pressured me to let them do those things with the boys since they found out I was doing it for a long time," she reportedly said. According to police records, Cherie Town was advised of her rights but chose to "cooperate.". Why should this concern Americans? Even in plain clothes, Perez looks formidable. 439 investigators, prosecutors, and defense counsel. [25][55] But the Seattle Post-Intelligencer argued that while Perez got a lot of the criticism, "he was just the point man for an investigation either directed by or undertaken with the active involvement of CPS officials",[10] and the Wall Street Journal blamed "the entire law enforcement establishment [including] the prosecutors". Detective Robert W. Williamson 5/13/2007. Detective Bob Perez, their foster parent, then started an investigation into these claims, resulting in the discovery of an alleged child-sex ring. . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. But until 1952, when Alcoa built a huge aluminum-manufacturing plant here, there wasn't much middle. Perez placed her under arrest. The house - a hulking, beige two stories crouched near the curb - is a wreck. Glassen's wife is Canadian, so they packed and moved to British Columbia. Improper training. They deny any of it ever happened. There was no point risking getting pulled over on a traffic violation. Then came a plague of grisly crimes, natural disasters and a child sex scandal", "Judges Targeted in Sex Ring Case | the Spokesman-Review", "Judges Question Need for Grand Jury Sex-Ring Investigations Could be Subject of Probe | the Spokesman-Review", "The Wenatchee Sex-Crime Case -- Evidence On Trial | The Seattle Times", "Last child-sex ring defendant released from prison after court action", "Child Abuse Charges Bitterly Divide Town: Crime: In Wenatchee, Wash., 28 adults have been accused and 15 convicted, but many doubt allegations", "Justice's watchdogs looked the other way: An angry reaction", "Justices reject sex-ring case award - | Local News", "Roberson v. Perez, 156 Wn. [60] This work formed the basis of Lyon's 1998 book, Witch Hunt: A True Story of Social Hysteria and Abused Justice. The 1994 . In your expert opinion, what do you believe were the motives behind Perez and Abbeys witch hunt?A. That we must always remain ever vigilant. Perez was in charge of interviewing the more than 40. Kinder critics said police, immersed in wretched detail, had failed to consider the children might be telling tales, exaggerating or even fabricating accounts of sexual abuse. [12] After case worker Paul Glassen criticized the way that Perez interviewed the foster daughter of Robert Devereaux, he was arrested for "tampering with a witness", and later fled to Canada with his family. [6][61][62], Courts have freed all those once imprisoned in these prosecutions. S Federal & W Florida . After months of patient care, Luci Perez felt she was finally gaining the girl's trust. There were neighborly exchanges between families. The allegations started when two children under the foster care of detective Robert Perez began accusing their parents. Wilson Hernandez, a Pembroke Pines man accused of molesting his two stepdaughters in 2013, was acquitted Friday. One of the central figures in the case who was acquitted, East Wenatchee Pastor Roby Roberson, told KPQ-TV he always expected an apology but never received one. In newspapers and on television, he accused Perez of being on a power trip, of leading child witnesses into making false accusations, of trampling on suspects' constitutional rights and bullying adults into signing confessions. Donna pointed out houses and buildings where she says she and other children were repeatedly raped and molested since January 1988. Several are illiterate. The division between the two Wenatchees is deep. That suggestion was ultimately rejected in Olympia as "discriminatory.". He was sentenced to 80 months. Robert Arredondo has been with the Dallas Police Department for over 12 years, with just a little of a year in homicide. (One soon ran away from Perez and recanted.) 2d 33 | Casetext Search + Citator", "Wenatchee Witchhunt on Dateline, November 1995", "Part I, b - Detective a man who charmed, harmed", "Robert Perez Police Department Evaluation", "Ex-Wenatchee sex crime detective Bob Perez dies", "Bob Perez, driving force in discredited sex abuse cases, dies | Local News", "Author Fights Sex-Ring Case Subpoena | the Spokesman-Review", "Writer Need Not Reveal Sources in Wenatchee Sex-Ring Cases | the Spokesman-Review", "Child sex ring book gets mixed reviews | Northwest", "One Brave Soul's Crusade for Truth About Wenatchee | the Seattle Times", "Wenatchee Witch Hunt and the Doggett Family", "Wenatchee Couple's Rape Conviction is Overturned | the Seattle Times", "State v. Carol M.D, 89 Wn. Others compared the investigation to the Spanish Inquisition. By the time he stopped talking, police were pretty sure Cherie Town knew more than she had let on. I thought to myself, `Oh God, what a mess,' and went straight to my supervisor," Glassen said. She was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison; he received 23 years. "Wenatchee Witch Hunt" Detective Robert Perez Was Perez Dealt with properly by his employer? "Nothing has gone on, could have gone on. Auxiliary Police Officer Nicholas T. Pekearo . Auxiliary Police Officer Milton S. Clarke Three teenage girls were returned to Devereaux's care. Q. "The difficulty in such situations is teasing out the truth.". "[36] Some jurors met with the Robersons after the trial; Roberson reported they were "so angry and upset that this case was even brought to trial". Q. 10/25/2004. He was found not guilty on two charges; the jury was hung on three others. He first joined the NOPD in October 2004 as a 7th District Patrolman, then moved to the 6th District Task Force and 6th District Investigations. . They had no idea, of course, of the difficulties that lay ahead; no hint of conspiracy; no clue that an incestuous ring of pedophiles, the likes of which has never been proved in this country, might be operating in Wenatchee. There is medical evidence to support some charges of sexual molestation. But by the time Detective Robert Perez completed his investigation, 24 people in Wenatchee had been accused in a child sex-abuse scandal. He spent his youth in Guadalajara, Mexico, where his father attended Medical School. Nicolas Ferrel-Ibarra. 928, 83 P.3d 1026 (2004). Reed, 43 at the time, pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation. A jury deliberated only 3 hours and 15 minutes before returning a verdict of guilty on five counts of child rape and molestation. Looking the other way as injustice takes its horrible toll is not acceptable. The detective responsible for the witch hunt, Robert "Bob" Perez, having incarcerated 43 adults with almost 30,000 counts of child rape and molestation, had become the lead detective of the Sex Crimes Unit in Wenatchee after attending a 3-day, 40-hour course on child abuse. In 1994 a child sexual abuse investigation was launched in the rural western Washington apple-growing city of Wenatchee.By the time it was over, forty-three adults were charged with twenty-nine thousand counts of rape and molestation of sixty children. The court also vacated orders dismissing Detective Robert Perez and Wenatchee Police Chief Kenneth Badgley, on the ground substantial justice required it. She was wearing a white dress. Of the cases that ended in convictions or guilty pleas, 18 were thrown out or overturned on appeal after Perezs tactics were investigated by a specially appointed appellate judge. It was the Holt children's aggressive sexual behavior that made authorities wonder if there hadn't been more wrong in the Holt household than father-daughter incest and motherly neglect. The wake it leaves behind is never-ending. Sgt. All rights reserved. Somebody would have told.". She described gatherings on weekends (and those evenings when the children had no homework) where the group would eat pizza, watch "Star Trek" movies and indulge in a frenzy of perversion. It is responsible for providing police service to an area encompassing 468 square miles and 21 community areas, representing approximately over 4 million residents as of 2022. A former East Wenatchee cop, Kinkade does not shy from a brawl. Shortly after midnight, Perez began questioning her; at 3:23 a.m., she signed a typed confession admitting to molesting numerous children. Green later recanted and pleaded innocent of all charges. What kind of perception do you think a story like this leavesthe American people? Melinda Everett, now 28, a plaintiff in the sex-abuse case, lived for a brief time in the home of detective, Robert Perez, while he investigated the case. Wenatchee Police Detective Robert Perez tenaciously pursued his investigation into stories of sexual predators who victimized children - sometimes their own children. Q. One of Devereaux's foster daughters said he raped her. Now,Fox Nationsearches for such answers, as former prosecutor and 'Crime Stories' host Nancy Graceprovides insight intothe story that changed a town forever. Aware of growing unease in the community - and knowing this case could be huge - Douglas County officials proceeded with caution. Melinda Everett's civil lawsuit says the Department of Social and Health Services should not have placed her in the home of former Wenatchee police detective Robert Perez. . In Cherie Town's book, it was wrong for her husband to be messing around with other women. "[82][83][84] Grant first used the term "witch hunt" to describe these cases in March, 1995. "[48] Other legal watchdogs such as the state Commission on Judicial Conduct and the ACLU declined to criticize these prosecutions. The detective had completed 64 hours of special training in sex-crimes investigation; both he and his superiors were confident of his ability to handle just about any case. The Wenatchee child abuse prosecutions in Wenatchee, Washington, US, of 1994 and 1995, were the last "large scale Multi-Victim / Multi-Offender case"[1] during the hysteria over child molestation in the 1980s and early 1990s. With her statement, police and prosecutors were able to convince Harold that he, too, should enter a plea of guilty. [8][9], The investigation began in January 1995 when Detective Robert Perez was told by his 13-year-old foster daughter, Donna Perez, that she had been sexually molested. In 1982, the Miami-Dade Police Department formed a small unit of three detectives to look into unsolved murder cases. Robert Devereaux Roberson Family The Everett Family Possible reasons for unethical work. Talking with the children made Perez believe Laura Holt - also known as Becky - had molested not only her children but countless others. Ralph Gausvik brought suit against Detective Robert Perez, alleging Perez violated his civil rights during a sex abuse investigation. but, in my 20 years of experience I've found it extremely unusual for a child to fabricate such accusations from whole cloth," said psychiatrist Roland Summit, who has been a consultant on several high-profile sex abuse trials, including the McMartin day-care case in Los Angeles. On March 13, 1995, Perez put Donna in his police car with two social services caseworkers and they drove through Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. But never once, Cherie Town said, did she "keep the boys home from school to have sex. Traffic was backed up for 5 miles Thursday morning. [8] Manuel Hidalgo Rodriguez, convicted in 1995,[53][75] was awarded $2.9 million from his defense attorney Ed Stevensen,[76] who took a job with the prosecutor 3 weeks after losing his case,[77] but in the end received $689,000. [9][23][67] The Robersons and Sims settled with the state of Washington for $850,000 in a case that was split off from a suit against the police due to a clerical error. Ifat trial, a prosecutoris never requiredtoascertain or to prove a motive. The court also vacated orders dismissing Detective Robert Perez and Wenatchee Police Chief Kenneth Badgley, on the ground substantial justice required it. Such events were by this point no longer new in this small city where, it was reported, Wenatchee's Child Protective Services workers and police Detective Robert Perez had jointly succeeded in . Perez's star witnesses, Donna and Melinda Everett, returned to live with their biological parents, Harold and Idella Everett. DI Jimmy Perez and his team investigate crimes within the close knit island community of Shetland. PEREZ Feb. 2000 99 Wn. But the cases against Town and Green and 15 others were overturned on appeal after evidence emerged that suspects, children and other defendants were coercively questioned by Wenatchee Police Detective Bob Perez, and bullied into signing statements the detective typed for them. 09/22/2004. [33] The jury acquitted the Robersons of all remaining charges;[34][35] one juror reported that acquitting them "was not a difficult decision for us. Then rumors surfaced that police were investigating him for child sexual abuse. Tim Abbey, former Wenatchee-area administrator for the state Department of Social and Health Services' Division of Children and Family Services, said he and former police detective Robert Perez . She told a counselor that her husband, Meredith "Gene" Town, had for years been molesting their two young sons. The woman owned a second rental house and believed the tenant, Dorris Green, had left her children with the Holts, knowing there was abuse going on. And Idella, threatened with a beating from her husband, had held the children down, then molested them herself. Legal Statement. She reportedly confirmed that Michael Rose and Randall Reed, drinking buddies of her husband who bunked with the family for a time, had also sexually abused the boys. My god, I could never do those things. It was appalling. I was with the District Attorneys Office in inner-city Atlanta for over a solid year, handling felonies in various capacities every single day, before I prosecuted a child molestation case ---much less allegations of this magnitude. Meredith Town was sentenced to 18 years and 4 months in prison; Cherie was ordered to serve 10 years. The next day Devereaux was notified that his foster care license had been suspended. Supported by interviews with other children, it appeared a hellish pact had been made among neighbors. [6] Sixteen adults entered Alford pleas; most of these were poor or "functionally retarded". IT BEGAN AS a case involving one man raping his two young boys. "Finally, I just told him to write whatever . "It's a witch hunt, pure and simple," said Bob Kinkade, self-appointed leader of the local chapter of Victims of Child Abuse Laws. WENATCHEE - There is right, and there is wrong. Perez, who was called to the stand by the defense, has testified that barely a month after he was promoted from uniformed patrolman to Wenatchee's only child sex crimes investigator in January. 43 adults were. Overnight lane reductions are scheduled Monday through Thursday, with more disruptions ahead this month. Text. Roberson had been looking into whether Perez was railroading poor, uneducated people into jail and had publicly spoken against the arrest of people like Harold and Idella Everett, who sometimes attended the church. National experts are split on whether the benefit of recording such statements outweighs potential problems. By this time, some children had recanted their accusations. That the truth came out at the end is some consolation, little as it is, but justice was not served. Whether those children were routinely gang-raped, as police and prosecutors say, is another matter. The only break had come when his father, a convicted burglar, got drunk and started shooting up the house with a .22-caliber revolver - probation violations that landed him back in jail. That didnt happen. Phone: 805-986-6530. Detective Second Grade Kevin G. Hawkins 5/7/2007. Detective Wayne H. Fortier; Grand Prairie Police Department, Texas. ", Perez went back to the kids, accompanied by a Child Protective Services investigator. That month, in what seemed at first a wholly unrelated incident, Robert Devereaux lost his license to operate a foster home after he became the subject of sexual-abuse allegations. All rights reserved. Those who know but do not like him say he is a "manipulative monster.". Children, not knowing whether their memories are real, grow up unsure and unhappy - damaged no matter what happened. [4] In his testimony, Perez admitted physically hurting his foster daughter that was accusing others. Before he arrested Meredith Town, he wanted corroborating statements from the boys, then ages 14 and 12. Cherie and Meredith Town's former residence, 610 Mission St., is within an easy five-minute walk. During the ride she. When the Department of Social and Health Services initially granted the license in 1987, Devereaux was married. They don't want to believe it. (According to court documents, Cherie Town has an IQ of 77; 90 to 110 is considered normal.). National statistics suggest a fairly even incidence of child sexual abuse across social and economic classes. The driving force behind the investigations was a police detective, Robert Perez, who never taped a single interview, routinely destroyed any notes he made and relied primarily on the testimony of . Four stories below Riesen's office is the Chelan County Jail where the accused - stripped of their shoes, street clothes and freedom - wait for a chance to tell their stories. WENATCHEE - Former Wenatchee police Detective Bob Perez, who led a discredited child sex ring investigation in the 1990s in central Washington, has died. If true, "The Circle" would have likely gone down as one of the most egregious cases of crimes in American history; instead, whats egregious is that it had been entirely made up at the hands of law enforcement. Distraught, Devereaux responded, "My life is ruined, okay, I did it. Top-floor windows are busted out, the rest covered with plywood. Twenty-four witnesses testified as to the facts of . App. Standing on the front porch, the 36-year-old mother of two was asked if she'd ever abused her boys. Miller was brought back to Wenatchee. On March 13, 1995, Perez put Donna in his police car with two social services caseworkers and they drove through Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. [4][16] Perez's foster daughter later recanted[17][18] and apologized to Roberson, claiming that Perez had pressured her. Morales-Perez . A few are of below normal intelligence. Sheriff Robert C. Ynclan; Gordon County Sheriff's Office, Georgia. Both later recanted their claims of sexual abuse. Directions Physical Address: View Map 250 N Ventura Road Port Hueneme, CA 93041. . The youngster's teacher said he told her the same story, according to the police report. Between tears, Green explained the abuse happened one Easter weekend when Laura and Selid Holt dropped their three kids - a 12-year-old boy, a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy - off for a two-week stay at her home. "What I will say is that I have confidence Officer Perez, Bob, has done an outstanding job under very difficult circumstances," said Wenatchee Police Chief Ken Bagdley. The 15-year-old said Devereaux had forced her and a 12-year-old foster sister to have sex with him. What would you ask Abbey, if given the opportunity to interview him? [37], A jury also acquitted Honnah Sims; one juror criticized the lack of evidence and described the case as "a witch hunt",[25] and the jury foreman criticized the case as a waste of money given the weakness of the evidence. Kinkade knows what it feels like to be charged with sexual abuse. Civil Rights: Other case filed on July 12, 2022 in the New Jersey District Court Perez's failure to reveal his "coercive tactics" does not establish bad faith because there is no evidentiary showing that Perez did . In 1998, 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. I didn't know what I was saying, what I was signing. But by the. On March 13, 1995, Perez put Donna in his police car with two social services caseworkers and they drove through Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. Again, prosecutors never brought charges, but Glassen was fired from his job for failure to report child abuse and neglect. Robert Stack 10/13/1982 1548 Ogden St: Robert Tolliver 11/12/1982 600 blk Poplar St. Savino Joseph Nuane 11/12/1982 2644 Larimer St. - Joe's Liquor Store Steven Emory Police Officer Jose A. Perez 4/27/1994. A multitude of police reports written by Wenatchee detective Robert Perez described dozens of adults lining up to take turns molesting children. Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenatcheeworld.com. Elizabeth Loftus, a University of Washington professor and nationally noted authority on memory, argues strongly that children, and even some adults, are "highly suggestible" and therefore unreliable. In September, police, prosecutors and child-protection workers believed they were just about to wrap up two very ugly cases of child sexual abuse - the Town-Holt and Devereaux cases. I understand. 6, No. [4][5][6] Eventually all those accused in these cases were released,[7] and the authorities paid damages to some of those originally accused. Nearly all the children interviewed by police came from impoverished, troubled homes. She was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Advertisement. As the citys chief sex crimes investigator, Perez arrested dozens of Wenatchee Valley adults between 1994 and 1995 on suspicion of sexually abusing children, sometimes in bizarre, ritualistic fashion. Offering lurid recollections of the abuse, she described how, at one home, grown-ups would take children, six at a time, to a room with six single beds. Wenatchee was in shock. Criminal prosecutions in Washington state, U.S. hysteria over child molestation in the 1980s, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, "The imaginary "sex rings" in Wenatchee, WA", Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, "Other Well-Known Cases | Innocence Lost | FRONTLINE | PBS", "Pastor and Wife Are Acquitted on All Charges in Sex-Abuse Case", "Jury finds city, county negligent in child sex ring case", "Book Review - 'Witch Hunt: A True Story of Social Hysteria and Abused Justice', "Afterward: Freedom is never the same for those who've been to prison on phony charges", "Last case settled in botched sex ring case", "Children sacrificed for the case: Allegations set up a puzzle of doubtful ethics, dubious facts", "CNN - Pastor, wife acquitted in child sex trial - Dec. 12, 1995", "The ghost won't lie still: Ten years after first arrest, 'sex-ring' episode still haunts the community | Local News", "WENATCHEE SEX RING: Questions resurface about 'witch hunt', "TV Station Ordered To Turn Over Tape: Judge Says Krem-TV Violated Girl's Rights In Wenatchee Sex Ring Case | The Spokesman-Review", "Wenatchee: Sex Probe Tests Truth and Trust", "The Unraveling of a Monstrous Secret -- Sex-Abuse Scandal Has Wenatchee Reeling", "Sex Case A 'Wenatchee Witch Hunt' Some Incidents of Incest Were Uncovered but There's Been No Proof of Group Child Abuse", "Cameo Garrett: Wenatchee Mentality: Conversation with Robbi Roberson", "Who is Abusing the Children of Wenatchee? Detective Robert Arredondo. On March 13, 1994, in what has become known as the "parade of homes," D.E. Emergency Phone: 911. As a former prosecutor, how do you think the government and law enforcement could have better handled this catastrophe? [1] After a family acquaintance was convicted of molesting the girl, Child Protective Services stepped in. It was the touching thing, the `wild thing.' Cited in numerous civil suits still pending against the city of Wenatchee, Detective Robert Perez retired on disability. Authorities alleged that Miller and her former husband, Larry Steinborn, were members of "The Circle.". She listed 22 locations. . to the police station for questioning. You voted, we tallied, here are the results. I know what it is like to be a victim, to be sexually molested as a child," she said, wiping away tears. Seattle Times staff reporter Dee Norton contributed to this report.