On March 13, 1995, Perez put Donna in his police car with two social services caseworkers and they drove through Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. That secret allegedly was shared by at least two dozen adults and some 50 children said to be members of "The Circle." What would you ask Abbey, if given the opportunity to interview him? WENATCHEE - There is right, and there is wrong. Both later recanted their claims of sexual abuse. 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. They were families, police say, in which adults treated children as commodities, "trading them like party favors" - not for financial gain, but for sexual gratification and illusions of power and control. "Fact is, people find this kind of thing very difficult to believe. According to police records, Cherie Town was advised of her rights but chose to "cooperate.". Most were investigated, some were not - the information lost in a shuffle of supervisors. at the very least, I wanted an extradition process between them and Perez.". Rose, then 26, maintained his innocence. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Improper training. [7], Those once accused filed lawsuits against the authorities who once prosecuted them. 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. Of the 13 women and 11 men charged with sexually exploiting children - one remains at large - one saw his case dismissed, nine have pleaded or been pronounced guilty and 13 have pleaded not guilty - their cases to be tried separately beginning next month. A subculture of down-at-the-heels subsistence workers and unemployable welfare dependents remains. . Devereaux asked, "What do I have to do to stay out of jail?" At 37, unemployed, with a felony record, Meredith Town didn't have a lot - just enough to fill a trailer. WENATCHEE Former Wenatchee police Detective Bob Perez, who led a discredited child sex ring investigation in the 1990s in central Washington, has died. Police Officer Sean A. McDonald 3/15/1994. The allegations strained credulity but not then, nor later, did Perez or his superiors consider the children might be embroidering the truth. Rattling off names, the girl referred to the group as "The Circle." Several are illiterate. . That did not happen. 10/25/2004. Do you feel it lends to the distrust of the justice department, or do you find theres some saving grace in the fact that, in the end, Perez was ultimately caught, and everyone accused, exonerated? The older daughters, Melinda and Donna, were sent to live as foster children in the home of detective Robert Perez. No child deserves to feel that, there's no way I would do those things," she said. A jury found him innocent of three charges, but could not reach a verdict on two others. 439 investigators, prosecutors, and defense counsel. Perez's star witnesses, Donna and Melinda Everett, returned to live with their biological parents, Harold and Idella Everett. A few had histories of telling terrible lies. Twenty-four witnesses testified as to the facts of . [4][16] Perez's foster daughter later recanted[17][18] and apologized to Roberson, claiming that Perez had pressured her. He was determined to ferret out the rest of the abusers, to save the kids. Many people were horrified, almost grief-stricken by the sex scandal; others were beginning to think police, and Perez in particular, were manufacturing charges. "[59] Lyon described the prosecutions as "a great example of a social phenomenon that we haven't seen since Salem or the McCarthy era". In a signed statement to the court, he wrote: "Because of liver damage that has affected my brain and memory, I have no recollection (of the crime). [2] Perez died in 2013 at age 60. Attorney Robert Perez has dedicated his life to representing people accused of serious crimes. Unable to afford the $1,000,000 bail for each, they were held in jail where Robert was beaten. [25] After their acquittal, they plea-bargained this case to community service for Robert. Authorities alleged that Miller and her former husband, Larry Steinborn, were members of "The Circle.". I would never subject my children to that.". A. "Fake news" sounds so benign. Following this, he was "accused, indirectly, of committing some of the same crimes". However, the allegations weren't true.. He brought shame onto Lady Justice andonall those people who fight for justice every day. 2", Wenatchee Witch Hunt: Child Sex Abuse Trials In Douglas and Chelan Counties, Concerned Citizens for Legal Accountability, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wenatchee_child_abuse_prosecutions&oldid=1140842856, Day care sexual abuse allegations in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 01:34. Link: Police Department Page Supportive parishioners, many of them poor and dependent on the food the Robersons' gave out weekly, decry the arrests as police "payback." They began a separate investigation into alleged abuse at the church run by Pastor Roberson, a 50-year-old former mechanic who found Jesus 12 years ago, and his wife. As in life, if you stand by and let injustice take place, blame is on you as well. [45], Washington Governor Mike Lowry requested a federal review,[2][44][46] but U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno declined to involve the national Justice Department in these cases. 'This has ruined the lives of these children': Nancy Grace on the Wenatchee witch hunt, THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE FAKE SEX RING THAT CHANGED WENATCHEE FOREVER. 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. The next day Devereaux was notified that his foster care license had been suspended. Five served their full sentences before their cases were overturned. Victim Rikki Olds, 25, was a "strong, independent" young woman who worked at the grocery store, her uncle, Robert Olds, told ABC News. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. IT BEGAN AS a case involving one man raping his two young boys. The last imprisoned defendant was released in Dec. 2000. Waiving his right to have an attorney present during questioning, Meredith Town admitted to 62 counts of child rape and four counts of indecent liberties. And Idella, threatened with a beating from her husband, had held the children down, then molested them herself. . . Other than that, he said, it was a quiet interview. He spent his youth in Guadalajara, Mexico, where his father attended Medical School. A former East Wenatchee cop, Kinkade does not shy from a brawl. She was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Bob Perez Led by Detective Perez, police and Washington State social workers began a vigorous investigation. 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. Fox Nation'sIn the Valley of Sinexamines the mid-90s witch hunt that pitted neighbor against neighbor in Wenatchee, Washington the self-appointed 'Apple Capital of The World' when police uncovered a monstrous child sex ring known among its membership as 'The Circle.' She was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison; he received 23 years. In 1994, Perez (who had undergone a few hours of specialized training in child abuse investigations) took his foster daughters on a ride through the streets of Wenatchee, asking them to identify places where they had been abused . she said during an interview at the Washington Correctional Facility for Women near Purdy, where she is to spend the next 40 years. 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? Whether that contributed to actions that make them guilty or simply makes it more difficult for them to establish their innocence is an unanswered question. [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]. [48][49], In 1996, a consultant, retired Bellevue Police Chief D.P. I doubt anyone is really investigating me, but I do believe they are trying to discredit my work. or redistributed. Detective Wayne H. Fortier; Grand Prairie Police Department, Texas. [11][27] Four months later they were each released on a reduced $12,500 bail to await trial. As I have long argued, Evil does not require a motiveit simply is. No. Fox Nationprograms are viewable on-demand and from your mobile device app, but only for Fox Nation subscribers. SEX RINGS LAWSUIT: Detective testifies as foster father. VOCAL, as the group is more commonly known, is a national organization established to "protect the falsely accused.". . [38][39], Concerned Citizens for Legal Accountability, formed to ask for an outside investigation,[40] filed a complaint with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct criticizing judges T.W. The allegations started when two children under the foster care of detective Robert Perez began accusing their parents. Perez placed her under arrest. Text. In your expert opinion, what do you believe were the motives behind Perez and Abbeys witch hunt?A. My god, I could never do those things. Cherie and Meredith Town's former residence, 610 Mission St., is within an easy five-minute walk. Aware of growing unease in the community - and knowing this case could be huge - Douglas County officials proceeded with caution. 22, Ex. Perez served over 200 days in Ventura County Jail after holding his girlfriend hostage at his Oxnard home in July of 2007. Still, the fact remains that more than 400,000 reports of verifiable child abuse are filed nationwide with authorities each year. Word was out that Meredith Town was preparing to skip Wenatchee and take his boys to El Dorado, Kan. There is no interrogation room, so officers question suspects at their desks, which are arranged in two short rows in a drab gray room. The children had said there were pornographic photographs and videotapes, including some "home movies" of the alleged orgies. But prosecutors and Perez's police superiors deny any. Perez spent about an hour talking with Cherie Town. The division between the two Wenatchees is deep. There were other arrests, including that, in March, of Donna Hidalgo, adult step-sister of Perez's foster child. Perez even let Jen go on Dead to Me after Jen confessed to murder. Eventually, both Cherie and Meredith Town bowed to punishment. Local authorities alleged that dozens of children were raped in the bedrooms of their parents, in the homes of their neighbors, and at ritualized orgies on the altar of a church. Justice would have required someone within the system having the backbone to stand up and declare "This is wrong." 336 Roberson v. Perez Aug. 2004 123 Wn. Several of the accused claimed that their confessions were coerced. 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. That didnt happen. Laura Carrione is an Editor with Fox News Digital, spearheading editorial coverage for Fox Nation features and premieres. Emerson Linarez, 38, was shot and killed in a confrontation with a homeowner. She was wearing a white dress. Perez asked for details. Perez kept asking if I hadn't seen this person and that person abuse the children. WENATCHEE Former Wenatchee police Detective Bob Perez, who led a discredited child sex ring investigation in the 1990s in central Washington, has died. Perez claimed in the lawsuit that he was retaliated against by City Manager Rob Mayes and former police chiefs James Runnels and Kyle Westall after he provided a deposition in a former sergeants' age discrimination lawsuit. [85][11] In September 1995, Grant wrote, "Now I know what it's like to be falsely accused. It is about police and prosecutors and the public debate over proof beyond a shadow of a doubt. Detective Second Grade Kevin G. Hawkins 5/7/2007. Again, prosecutors never brought charges, but Glassen was fired from his job for failure to report child abuse and neglect. CPS records indicate allegations of sexual abuse were leveled at Devereaux at least seven times over four years. By the time he stopped talking, police were pretty sure Cherie Town knew more than she had let on. I'm lying.". Wasn't it possible, some asked, that the children, desperate for attention and approval, hadn't simply said what they thought police wanted to hear? On March 13, 1995, Perez put Donna in his police car with two social services caseworkers and they drove through Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. 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. 6, No. Before being chosen to work in the Robbery-Homicide division in 1996, he spent over nine years as a homicide investigator at the South Bureau and Wilshire Division. "Children's disclosures may be confusing and inconsistent. "She said she was mad, that she lied, that Perez encouraged her . But by the. Carol and Mark Doggett (whose daughter had been taken to a mental facility in Idaho to recover memories against them,[29][63] and then ran away while denying having been abused[64]) were freed,[65][66] but then still required legal assistance to get their children returned to their custody. I didn't know what I was saying, what I was signing. Wilson Hernandez, a Pembroke Pines man accused of molesting his two stepdaughters in 2013, was acquitted Friday. Accusations: 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. Standing on the front porch, the 36-year-old mother of two was asked if she'd ever abused her boys. (One soon ran away from Perez and recanted.) Later, Cherie Town would reportedly admit to her own perverse and seemingly insatiable sexual appetite. Legal Statement. Heres whats happening at the mid-point of the 2023 session of the Washington Legislature. (Court's Memorandum Decision on Reference Hearing, Ct. Rec. Bob Perez died last Thursday at Central Washington Hospital, according to. She reportedly began to have sex with her younger son when he was 9. . 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!" Police records say the youngster was forthcoming, confirming that his father raped him and forced him to perform oral sex. . Q. They had moved from Oklahoma to Wenatchee in 1985, settling into a squat, rust-colored rental house with a narrow porch overlooking a tidy patch of grass, four lanes of traffic and a sprawling junk store with a 10-foot bull's-eye painted on an outside wall and the boast "2,000 GUNS.". Donna pointed out houses and buildings . By 2004, the city of Wenatchee had paid out more than $7 million in jury awards and settlements to claimants who were falsely accused. Ricardo Robert "Bob" Perez, Jr. passed away peacefully at Central Washington Hospital on Thursday, December 12, 2013, surrounded by family and friends. 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. I want to make sure it doesn't happen again, and I believe the state could convict me at trial." [72][73] The last lawsuit against the authorities in these cases was settled in 2009, with the children of Harold and Idella Everett, who initially made an Alford plea (pled no contest),[74] receiving $120,000. A half-hour after she was arrested, Laura Holt stopped arguing her innocence and began to confess. Some children were abused in Wenatchee, that much is certain. Individually and as a group, the accused were isolated from society's mainstream. WENATCHEE (AP) The former police detective who led the discredited Wenatchee child sex ring investigation has died. 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. Police Officer Nicholas R. DeMutiis 1/25/1994. 10", "IPT Journal - "Investigations and Interviews in Cases of Alleged Child Sexual Abuse: A Look at the Scientific Evidence", "Roberson Trial Considered Text (sic) Of Sex-Ring Investigation | The Seattle Times", "DETECTIVE IN CHILD SEX RING TRIAL HURT GIRL", "Jury Acquits Pastor And Wife 'There Is No Sex Ring In Wenatchee,' Says Roberson After Verdict | The Spokesman-Review", "Wenatchee World - Guest Commentary by Karl Ohler", "COLUMN ONE: Wenatchee: Little Town of Horrors: This bucolic Northwest city seemed to epitomize the innocence of rural America. Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenatcheeworld.com. "The difficulty in such situations is teasing out the truth.". After he informed her of her rights, she confessed to ongoing sexual contacts with all three children individually and in. Along with drinking, sex was the family's primary diversion. But there was one problem: none of it actually happened. If I were an investigator charged with investigating the cases today, Id do it exactly the same way, Perez said in 2004. They deny any of it ever happened. His dreams came true and he became a K9 officer. "Nothing has gone on, could have gone on. A judge rejected that argument. App. They awarded $3 million to a couple who had been wrongly accused in the inquiry,[5] but the state supreme court later upheld an appeals court ruling reducing this award to the Sims. Cited in numerous civil suits still pending against the city of Wenatchee, Detective Robert Perez retired on disability.
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