Still, the fact remains that more than 400,000 reports of verifiable child abuse are filed nationwide with authorities each year. A friend of Perez's foster daughter claimed that on one occasion, "Pastor Roby" asked the girl into his shag-carpeted office off the sanctuary. As part of the Fox News Flash & Media team, Laura has her hand in a variety of content - from faith & values to crime & justice - having recently interviewed celebrities like actor Leslie Jordan, author Mitch Albom, and crime expert Nancy Grace for FOX. "There are countless suggestive forces," she said. The City's investigation began after a foster child in the home of Wenatchee Police Detective Robert Perez claimed that she and other children had been sexually abused while attending the family's East Wenatchee church. that the police officer was `out to get her dad.' [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. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. . Accompanied by two Child Protective Service workers, Perez returned to 610 Mission St. I don't want to believe it either, but based on the evidence, I must.". 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. The wake it leaves behind is never-ending. [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. [41][42] The judges had earlier asked for a visiting judge to investigate. 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. Fax: 805-488-2633. 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. The first time it happened, Rose and Reed were supposed to be keeping the boys out of harm's way while she was downtown talking to her husband about a divorce. 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. The case resulted in changes in state law regarding foster care, sex-abuse investigation and mental-health institutionalization involving children, but Perez had no regrets. She was wearing a white dress. Striding down the hallway of the county courthouse - tall, fair, well-built, with a sidearm and handcuffs visible under his leather jacket - he is the image of righteous justice. A. "I was willing to stand and fight," he said. There was, it seemed, horrific new allegations being made every day. Kenneth Lanning, the FBI's child-abuse specialist, has advised against taping, saying it creates a "highly subjective piece of evidence.". I would never subject my children to that.". He had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 years. Early Life Personal The Holts - Selid, Laura and their three kids - lived just a few doors down, at 512 Mission St. The Robersons were arrested on 22 counts of child rape and molestation. "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. [20][21], Forty-three adults were arrested on 29,726 charges of child sex abuse, involving 60 children in 1995. 4, No. 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. But at that moment she was not making a confession; she was getting back at an unfaithful husband. At the end of Dead to Me season 1, Jen killed Judy's ex Steve (James Marsden) in part because she was scared of him and in part . Perez placed her under arrest. In early August 1994, Perez paid another visit to Cherie Town, who was in the Chelan County Jail awaiting sentencing. S Federal & W Florida . The school board on Tuesday adopted a blueprint for potential layoffs and deep program cuts to make ends meet. The house - a hulking, beige two stories crouched near the curb - is a wreck. 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. 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 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. The state ferry system still faces crew shortages and a diminishing, aging fleet of green-and-white workhorses. App. Perez found the older boy, who is mentally disabled, eager to please but very afraid of what might happen if his father found out "he told." Emergency Phone: 911. I want to make sure it doesn't happen again, and I believe the state could convict me at trial." WENATCHEE Former Wenatchee police Detective Bob Perez, who led a discredited child sex ring investigation in the 1990s in central Washington, has died. That the truth came out at the end is some consolation, little as it is, but justice was not served. On a sticky-hot July afternoon, about three months after the Towns were arrested, Perez knocked on Laura Holt's door. A half-hour after she was arrested, Laura Holt stopped arguing her innocence and began to confess. WENATCHEE - There is right, and there is wrong. It took years of mental health treatment for the case to proceed against Alan Dean in the killing of Melissa Lee. "Finally, I just told him to write whatever . The court also vacated orders dismissing Detective Robert Perez and Wenatchee Police Chief Kenneth Badgley, on the ground substantial justice required it. "Fact is, people find this kind of thing very difficult to believe. Perez kept asking if I hadn't seen this person and that person abuse the children. 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. Bob Perez, driving force in discredited sex abuse cases, dies Jefferson Robbins Dec 18, 2013 Sections Local News Northwest News Sports Arts & Entertainment Education Housing Crisis Webcams Buy Now Former Wenatchee police detective Bob Perez in 1998. And Idella, threatened with a beating from her husband, had held the children down, then molested them herself. Some will never believe it. Meredith Town was sentenced to 18 years and 4 months in prison; Cherie was ordered to serve 10 years. 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. Laura Carrione is an Editor with Fox News Digital, spearheading editorial coverage for Fox Nation features and premieres. [6][61][62], Courts have freed all those once imprisoned in these prosecutions. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. She settled with the city this month. "I have never been so terrified in my life. All rights reserved. . "[59] Lyon described the prosecutions as "a great example of a social phenomenon that we haven't seen since Salem or the McCarthy era". . The 9-year-old had asked if they could talk. [56][57], Pierce County public defender Kathryn Lyon compiled "The Wenatchee Report",[58] which "purport[ed] to show civil-rights violations involving children and families in Chelan and Douglas counties. As I have long argued, Evil does not require a motiveit simply is. . Lived in Oxnard, CA and dreamed of being a police officer. Focus was directed towards other employees. ." (According to court documents, Cherie Town has an IQ of 77; 90 to 110 is considered normal.). Q. In a separate appeal, this court reversed the jury verdict in favor of the Sims. Emerson Linarez, 38, was shot and killed in a confrontation with a homeowner. 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. . [44] Some higher courts agreed, so those who were convicted were freed and had their convictions overturned or pleaded guilty on lesser charges. Reed, 43 at the time, pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation. He was determined to ferret out the rest of the abusers, to save the kids. 2023, Everett Herald and Sound Publishing, Inc. Advertising in The Herald Business Journal, Semi-truck fire snarls northbound I-5 traffic through Everett, Everett schools may slash 140 jobs to deal with $28M deficit, Man identified in fatal Highway 99 shooting, After wrongful stop, news carrier will be on Arlington police boards, Everett sailor arrested after fatal hit and run on Evergreen Way, Former county staffer takes job with Biden administration, Man accused of Bothell cold case killing can stand trial, judge rules, Embracing recess, capping insulin costs and targeting street takeovers, Tiny home abandoned in road near Maltby; deputies searching for driver, To solve home care aide shortage, Washington may expand who can be one, Work on I-5 HOV lane from Everett to Marysville starts next week, Top estheticians and spa services in Snohomish County, 1 man dead in shooting at south Everett apartments, Edmonds-Kingston is back to 2 boats, but its no ferry tale ending, You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing, If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to. 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. at the very least, I wanted an extradition process between them and Perez.". [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.
March 11, 2023