[51][52], Following a "brief training course",[14] Robert Perez was rotated into sex-crimes investigation in 1994[53] despite having been arrested, involvement in a child custody dispute,[54] and a 1989 performance evaluation that said he "likes confrontation and likes having power over people". 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. 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. Tim Abbey, the Supervisor of Child Protective Services at the time of the Wenatchee sex crime investigation, had no doubt done his part in aiding Perez having dismissed an alleged victims recantation, facilitating the arrest of the caseworker whod brought the very admission to his attention, and even forcing hospitalization at a mental facility for any children whod been uncooperative witnesses in the prosecution of their parents. Perez said he wouldn't, couldn't, discuss it over the phone. I know what it is like to be a victim, to be sexually molested as a child," she said, wiping away tears. 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. . "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. No child deserves to feel that, there's no way I would do those things," she said. The next day Devereaux was notified that his foster care license had been suspended. A multitude of police reports written by Wenatchee detective Robert Perez described dozens of adults lining up to take turns molesting children. In 1982, the Miami-Dade Police Department formed a small unit of three detectives to look into unsolved murder cases. Traffic was backed up for 5 miles Thursday morning. In police custody, Devereaux repeatedly denied abusing the girls, saying they would often come on to him but he always ignored the behavior or took steps to stop it. But until 1952, when Alcoa built a huge aluminum-manufacturing plant here, there wasn't much middle. Distraught, Devereaux responded, "My life is ruined, okay, I did it. + Subscribe for $1 for the first month Victim Rikki Olds, 25, was a "strong, independent" young woman who worked at the grocery store, her uncle, Robert Olds, told ABC News. The more he heard, the. That secret allegedly was shared by at least two dozen adults and some 50 children said to be members of "The Circle." Glassen was arrested for witness tampering, police suspecting he had pressured the girl to change her statement on behalf of Devereaux. . 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 . In the Wenatchee investigation, lies were originally generated by a particular detective and those around him who blindly accepted his premise and not only enabled it, but allowed it to mushroom into the debacle it became. So began the painful unraveling of a monstrous secret. Supported by interviews with other children, it appeared a hellish pact had been made among neighbors. Would she please stop by the station? Their marriage on the rocks, Cherie and her husband were rarely intimate - although, on occasion they would have sex together with the boys. . One of Denzel Washington's greatest roles is that of LAPD narcotics officer Detective Alonzo Harris in Training Day - Antoine Fuqua's 2001 crime thriller about two narcotics officers set over a 24-hour period in the gang-ridden neighbourhoods of the Rampart Division and . The school board on Tuesday adopted a blueprint for potential layoffs and deep program cuts to make ends meet. 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.' The wake it leaves behind is never-ending. Mae Hochstetler can pay the bills because the state pays her to care for her adult son, with a pandemic pay bump. After months of patient care, Luci Perez felt she was finally gaining the girl's trust. Aware of growing unease in the community - and knowing this case could be huge - Douglas County officials proceeded with caution. . 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. Attempting to leave Wenatchee quietly, he stopped by the Douglas County sheriff's office to purchase a trip permit for his rig. Captain Michael D'Angelo Garigan; Gove County Sheriff's Office, Kansas. 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. At least one caseworker said change was needed in the Devereaux household - perhaps only boys should be placed there. 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. With her statement, police and prosecutors were able to convince Harold that he, too, should enter a plea of guilty. [25], On March 23, 1995, Robert Roberson, pastor of some of the accused, criticized the authorities at a public meeting. She was wearing a white dress. . 928, 83 P.3d 1026 (2004). Q. 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. Then a 15-year-old girl, in juvenile detention for allegedly trying to poison Devereaux and a foster sister, accused him of rape. It is about police and prosecutors and the public debate over proof beyond a shadow of a doubt. Apr 20th, 1998. Cherie and Meredith Town's former residence, 610 Mission St., is within an easy five-minute walk. Yes, exonerations were ultimately achieved, but the fabric of so many lives was torn so violently, thosechildren and adultscan never go back to what they were before. That didnt happen. As I have long argued, Evil does not require a motiveit simply is. 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 . Some things she said made Perez suspect there was a conspiracy, that kids were being passed among neighbors. The Unraveling Of A Monstrous Secret -- Sex-Abuse Scandal Has Wenatchee Reeling Jun 8, 1995 Marla Williams, Dee Norton IT BEGAN AS a case involving one man raping his two young boys. Others compared the investigation to the Spanish Inquisition. 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. 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. S Federal & W Florida . [22] Parents and Sunday school teachers were charged, and many were convicted of abusing children, often including their own, or their foster children. 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 . Q. Some children were abused in Wenatchee, that much is certain. 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. And Idella, threatened with a beating from her husband, had held the children down, then molested them herself. When the child was placed in the foster care of Luci and Bob Perez, she was withdrawn and frightened. Q. Accompanied by two Child Protective Service workers, Perez returned to 610 Mission St. However, the allegations weren't true.. [6] Sixteen adults entered Alford pleas; most of these were poor or "functionally retarded". He has twice been tried on charges of molesting his stepdaughter. "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. App. Its Day 52. DI Jimmy Perez and his team investigate crimes within the close knit island community of Shetland. Plaintiffs' attorney James Beecher said Perez. Devereaux's 15-year-old accuser was Glassen's responsibility, one of dozens of kids on his case list. 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. . 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. . 10/21/2004. A second set of files is kept by Chelan County Prosecutor Gary Riesen, whose office is down the hall, just past the Superior Court chambers where the fates of the accused are to be decided. The Los Angeles Police Department is one of the largest and most innovative law enforcement agencies in the world. [60] This work formed the basis of Lyon's 1998 book, Witch Hunt: A True Story of Social Hysteria and Abused Justice. During a hearing before trial, Green's defense attorney argued that Perez improperly questioned and arrested his client and, thus, her confession should not be allowed into evidence. A jury found him innocent of three charges, but could not reach a verdict on two others. 11th Ave & Broadway . As the matter dragged on, Devereaux became frantic, according to one caseworker's notes, in part because his only income was the state payments he received for care of his foster daughters. I understand. But by the time Detective Robert Perez completed his investigation, 24 people in Wenatchee had been accused in a child sex-abuse scandal. Then a tip came from the Holts' former landlady. Perez, 60, of Waterville died Dec. 12. She settled with the city this month. 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. Down at the station, seated alongside the detective's desk, Cherie Town answered questions for a long time. Auxiliary Police Officer Milton S. Clarke Unable to afford the $1,000,000 bail for each, they were held in jail where Robert was beaten. Detective Bob Perez, their foster parent, then started an investigation into these claims, resulting in the discovery of an alleged child-sex ring. . Those who know but do not like him say he is a "manipulative monster.". Police Officer Jose A. Perez 4/27/1994. 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. It took years of mental health treatment for the case to proceed against Alan Dean in the killing of Melissa Lee. Miller was brought back to Wenatchee. 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. 6 at 3) The reference hearing, which began on March 11, 1998, was held in front of Judge Wallis Friel and spanned the course of seven days. [4] In his testimony, Perez admitted physically hurting his foster daughter that was accusing others. Sex, she said, was the kids' idea. Most of the girls sent to the Devereauxs were victims of sexual abuse - some were withdrawn and frightened, others aggressive and angry. It is important to note that their marriage ended after one of Miller's daughters (by a previous husband) accused Steinborn of sexual molestation.
