Witch Hunt in Wenatchee, WA - Lane Lawless' Old Stomping Ground
doubledecker:
I have always been meaning to go through all of those names and never got around to it ugh. I guess maybe now is the time? ::MonkeyCool::
doubledecker:
the first name I notice is Laura Rebecca Holt
Cll's uncle, Richard Birdette Lawless first married Wilma Toots HOLT.
let me see if I can find out if they are related.
love4ever:
Go here DD..lol..they may not all be him butt 99% are.. ::MonkeyDevil::
Snipped:
http://dw.courts.wa.gov/index.cfm?fa=home.namelist
1 Roberson, Robert
Respondent Chelan Co Dist Court H97-00116 01-23-1997
2 Roberson, Robert
Plaintiff King Co Superior Ct 98-2-07404-3 03-25-1998
3 Roberson, Robert
Judgment Debtor King Co Superior Ct 98-9-04117-5 03-16-1998
4 Roberson, Robert
Judgment Debtor King Co Superior Ct 98-9-15763-7 10-15-1998
5 Roberson, Robert
Defendant Chelan Superior Ct -2-37872- 01-01-1901
6 Roberson, Robert
Defendant Lewis Co Superior 06-2-00437-8 04-04-2006
7 Roberson, Robert
Judgment Debtor King Co Superior Ct 96-9-28092-1 11-12-1996
8 Roberson, Robert
Judgment Debtor King Co Superior Ct 98-9-15764-5 10-15-1998
9 Roberson, Robert
Plaintiff Chelan Superior Ct 96-2-00704-2 08-09-1996
10 Roberson, Robert
Plaintiff Chelan Superior Ct -2-37994- 01-01-1901
11 Roberson, Robert
Defendant Skagit Superior 83-2-00189-0 05-06-1983
12 Roberson, Robert
Defendant King Co Superior Ct 96-2-28568-4 10-31-1996
13 Roberson, Robert
Plaintiff Thurston Superior 96-2-02273-7 06-26-1996
14 Roberson, Robert
Plaintiff Spokane Superior 01-2-03683-6 06-26-2001
15 Roberson, Robert
Guardian Ad Litem Thurston Superior 96-2-02273-7 06-26-1996
16 Roberson, Robert
Plaintiff Douglas Superior 95-2-00125-1 06-06-1995
17 Roberson, Robert
Judgment Debtor Chelan Superior Ct 98-9-00105-4 01-29-1998
18 Roberson, Robert
Judgment Debtor Spokane Superior 01-9-05640-9 09-06-2001
19 Roberson, Robert
Plaintiff Kitsap Superior 96-2-01890-4 06-17-1996
20 Roberson, Robert
Respondent Lewis Co Superior 97-2-00179-8 02-13-1997
21 Roberson, Robert
Plaintiff Chelan Superior Ct 96-2-01087-6 01-21-1997
22 Roberson, Robert
Defendant Chelan Co Dist Court 88-000849 10-10-1988
23 Roberson, Robert
Defendant Cowlitz District 1C0001649 11-20-2001
24 Roberson, Robert
Defendant Cowlitz District 4C0000850 05-28-2004
25 Roberson, Robert
Respondent Kcdc-so Div (swd) 96-073901 12-10-1996
26 Roberson, Robert
Defendant Clark County Dist 309579-05 06-25-2007
27 Roberson, Robert
Plaintiff Kcdc-so Div (rdc) 35089 06-09-1989
28 Roberson, Robert
Defendant Cowlitz District 96C000818 08-26-1996
29 Roberson, Robert As
Plaintiff Douglas Superior 96-2-00173-0 08-09-1996
30 Roberson, Robert As
Judgment Debtor Douglas Superior 96-9-00228-6
88 Roberson, Robert H
Defendant Chelan Superior Ct 84-2-00315-9 07-30-1984
89 Roberson, Robert H
Judgment Debtor Chelan Superior Ct 84-9-00560-2 09-20-1984
90 Roberson, Robert H
Defendant Chelan Superior Ct 84-2-00412-1 09-20-1984
91 Roberson, Robert H
Judgment Debtor Chelan Superior Ct 84-9-00675-7 11-02-1984
92 Roberson, Robert H
Petitioner Snohomish Superior -3-13790- 07-25-1972
93 Roberson, Robert H
Defendant Skagit Superior 84-2-00095-6 03-13-1984
94 Roberson, Robert H
Judgment Debtor Skagit Superior 85-9-00035-6 01-21-1985
95 Roberson, Robert H
Judgment Debtor Snohomish Superior -9-48329- 01-22-1974
96 Roberson, Robert H
Respondent Grant Superior Court 84-3-00250-6 06-25-1984
97 Roberson, Robert H
Petitioner Chelan Superior Ct -3-33944- 01-01-1901
98 Roberson, Robert H
Plaintiff Chelan Superior Ct 84-2-00485-6 11-02-1984
99 Roberson, Robert H
Judgment Debtor Skagit Superior 84-9-00409-4 06-25-1984
100 Roberson, Robert Harlan
Defendant Chelan Co Dist Court I00047657 04-27-2009
101 Roberson, Robert Harlan
Defendant Douglas Superior 95-1-00056-1 03-31-1995
102 Roberson, Robert Harlan
Defendant Douglas Superior 95-1-00147-9 10-06-1995
103 Roberson, Robert Harlan
Defendant Benton Superior Ct 96-1-00026-8 01-11-1996
104 Roberson, Robert Harlan
Judgment Debtor Benton Superior Ct 96-9-00431-9 03-22-1996
105 Roberson, Robert Harlan
Defendant Wenatchee Vio Bureau I00041733 08-23-2006
106 Roberson, Robert Harlan
Defendant Douglas District 95-000064 03-29-1995
107 Roberson, Robert Harlan
Respondent Douglas District
138 Roberson, Robert,
Plaintiff Douglas Superior 96-2-00173-0 08-09-1996
139 Roberson, Robert,
Judgment Debtor Douglas Superior 96-9-00228-6 08-29-1996
140 Roberson, Robertux
Judgment Debtor
love4ever:
Quote from: lonemonkey on June 18, 2009, 04:31:10 PM
Quote from: love4ever on June 18, 2009, 03:45:15 PM
Yay!!! ::MonkeyDance:: And I agree..This has been something I have researched alittle. The most important aspects I have seen are those still incarcerated and those who have been acquitted but did not get their children back. Their children remained in foster homes. Also name changes, did some of those convicted, but acquitted change their names? And who were the foster parents of the so many children taken? The name change is what I was looking for. Noticing that even the city was voting to change the name of Wenatchee (see below).
Thursday, May 8, 1997 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
Pacific Northwest
Name Change Going To A Vote
Seattle Times Staff: Seattle Times News Services
EAST WENATCHEE, Douglas County - The City Council has agreed to a public vote in the fall on changing the city's name.
The council said Monday the issue could go on the September or November ballot. If voters approve a change, they'll be asked to choose from a list of names submitted by the council.
"Eastmont," the name of the local school district, is a possible favorite.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970508&slug=2538078
Or how about Roberson aka Robert "Roby" Roberson being charged with perjury and theft?
Saturday, March 23, 1996 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
Pacific Northwest
Pastor Sentenced For Fraud
Seattle Times Staff: Seattle Times News Services
KENNEWICK - An East Wenatchee pastor, acquitted earlier of child-rape and molestation charges, was sentenced yesterday in an unrelated welfare-fraud case.
Robert "Roby" Roberson was sentenced to 30 days of community service and two years of probation, and ordered to pay $684 in court costs.
A hearing was set for April 19 to determine if Roberson must pay back about $36,000 in welfare aid.
Roberson, 50, pleaded guilty to perjury and theft.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960323&slug=2320391
(Edit to change color from red (used by admin/mods) to navy. MuffyBee)
Interesting post, Love! ::MonkeyRoll::
So...this Pastor and wife Connie have NO problem stealing form the members of their church and the Food Bank of the poor.
Wonder what else they are OK with *stealing*...
They are fishy!
BTW, Sister is looking for a post about a lawsuit and the dairy...
Do you remember anything like that? Having a hard time locating it!
The only lawsuit I remember finding was a sexual harassment against a supervisor from Harris Farms..The lady Won!
John C. Harris
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Harris Farms, Inc.
(Edit to change red (used by admin/mods) to navy. MuffyBee)
101
101
Age Total Annual Compensation This person is connected to 3 board of directors in 3 different organizations across 0 different industries.
See Board Relationships
-- --
BACKGROUND
John C. Harris serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Harris Farms, Inc. Mr. Harris is Owner and Chairman of Harris Ranch Beef Company. He serves as Trustee of University of California, Merced (UC Merced). .
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
27366 West Oakland Avenue
Coalinga, California 93210
United States
Phone: 559-884-2859
Fax: 559-884-2855
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERSHIPS
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Harris Farms, Inc.
Trustee
University of California, Merced (UC Merced)
Owner and Corporate Chairman of the Board
Harris Ranch Beef Company
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=1444432
In Relation to the above business:
EEOC and Plaintiff's Counsel Score Victory for
Latina Farmworker Sexually Assaulted By Her Supervisor
http://www.eeoc.gov/press/1-21-05.html
lonemonkey:
Quote from: lonemonkey on June 18, 2009, 06:18:36 PM
Snipped:
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7065
Wenatchee Witch Hunt: Child Sex Abuse Trials In Douglas and Chelan Counties
HistoryLink.org Essay 7065 : Printer-Friendly Format
Wenatchee, Washington, got world attention in 1994-1995, when it found itself in the midst of what was characterized as history’s most extensive child sex abuse investigation. Three years later, the investigations had fallen apart amidst accusations of abuses by police and state social workers, and alleged false confessions, badgered child witnesses, and evidence based on the generally discredited “recovered memory” theory. The cases eventually came to be known as the Wenatchee Witch Hunt.
Sensational Allegations, Questionable Confessions
Sensational allegations included the existence of a group called “The Circle” made up of mothers and fathers trading their children for ritual sex abuse, and black-clad adults in sunglasses holding large scale orgies around Wenatchee.
Forty-three adults were arrested and accused of 29,726 counts of sexually abusing 60 children. Some were released. Eighteen pleaded guilty, mostly on the basis of signed confessions. Ten were convicted at trial. Three were acquitted. Eighteen went to prison.
Many witnesses and defendants later said they were pressured into making false confessions and accusations by caseworkers from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and by Wenatchee Police Department Lieutenant Bob Perez.
All who confessed later recanted. Some defendants said that when threatened with life imprisonment, they pled guilty to lesser charges. Some said they were told that if they confessed they wouldn’t go to jail but would be treated in the community. Many were told they would never see their children again unless they signed a confession. Those questioned also said they were told that their children wouldn’t be placed in foster care or put up for adoption if they signed confessions.
Children Grilled, Called Liars
Child witnesses, mostly from 9 to 13 years old, were often taken from their families and placed in foster care. Many said later that they were subjected to hours of frightening grilling and if they didn’t believe they had been sexually abused, they were told they were “in denial” or had suppressed the memory of the abuse. They were also told that siblings and other children had witnessed their abuse, or that that their parents had already confessed.
Interrogators called some children who denied abuse liars. Children were told that if they agreed to accusations they wouldn’t be separated from parents or siblings. Many of them later recanted. Lieutenant Perez neither recorded nor kept notes of his interrogations.
*In 1995...What would the authorities possibly have to gain by putting these ideas into the childrens' heads???????
Recantations were ignored. "It's well known that children are telling the truth when they say they've been abused," Wenatchee Child Protective Services (CPS) supervisor Tim Abbey later told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "But (they) are usually lying when they deny it." Abbey also told an investigator that CPS interviews in the Wenatchee cases were not taped because tapes of the interviews in the California’s notorious McMartin pre-school case, in which no one was convicted, had been thrown out on “technicalities.” In fact, the McMartin tapes showed investigators browbeating and prompting children, and successfully getting them to weave fantastic stories.
Some children and adolescents were involuntarily committed by DSHS to Pine Crest Hospital across the Washington state line, in Idaho where laws allowing involuntarily commitment of juveniles are more lax. One teenaged girl was taken to Pine Crest strapped to a gurney. There, they say they were drugged and pressured to testify against parents and other adults before they could be released.
* If true... would this family not have grounds for a fat lawsuit against the authorities???
Many of the accused were poor, and some were developmentally disabled, and illiterate. These defendants mostly relied on public defenders. The few with private attorneys fared better.
How It All Began
It began in February of 1992, when school authorities questioned Donna Everett, the seven-year-old daughter of Harold and Idella Everett. The Everetts were a large, poor family. Harold was illiterate and Idella was developmentally disabled with an IQ of 58.
When questioned, Donna said two six-year-old boys had touched her genitals, a statement corroborated by her brother. Child Protective Services (CPS), a division of the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), and police investigated. Suspicious of sex abuse in the Everett home, the authorities convinced the Everetts to voluntarily put Donna in foster care.
A month later, after repeated questioning, Donna said she had been molested by a family acquaintance. This man initially denied molesting Donna, but then signed a confession, which he may not have understood, as he spoke little English. He was later convicted.
Nevertheless the Everett family continued to be questioned and investigated. A year later, Donna’s twin brothers told authorities their father had hit them with a belt. Everett was then ordered out of the home, leaving Idella to manage the family alone.
The twins were placed in separate foster homes. At one point, three of the children were sent to the mental hospital in Idaho, and CPS placed another child in therapy. Donna was placed in foster care with Robert Devereux, the divorced foster-father of several girls. Eventually, Devereux said he couldn’t handle Donna. She was then placed as a foster child in the home of Lieutenant Bob Perez.
Perez had recently been put in charge of sex abuse cases by the Wenatchee Police Department as part of a routine rotation system.
In August 1994, one of the girls at the Devereux home tried to poison the foster-father with iodine after he grounded her. She was taken to juvenile hall. While there, Bob Perez interviewed her, and she accused Devereux of molesting her. The other girls in the Devereux home didn’t back up her story, and the accuser later recanted to her DSHS caseworker, Paul Glassen, saying Perez had pressured and intimidated her.
Devereux was arrested, however, and another foster daughter in his home was re-interviewed by Perez. After several hours of questioning, she changed her story and said she too had been molested.
Devereux hired a lawyer and the charges against him were eventually dismissed after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for spanking a child and for warning two people that they were about to be arrested. He later received a settlement of $290,000 from the city of Wenatchee in exchange for his dropping a malicious prosecution and negligent investigation lawsuit.
Dissenters Fired and Arrested
Also arrested was caseworker Paul Glassen. After he had reported the recantation of the child witness who first accused Devereux, Glassen was handcuffed at work and arrested for witness tampering.
Those charges were eventually dropped, but Glassen was fired and was later investigated for being a participant in the alleged orgies run by “The Circle.” After Glassen moved with his family to Vancouver, Canada, Perez and a CPS worker told the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that he was being investigated for 50 counts of child abuse, and he lost his job there. Glassen later received a $295,000 settlement from the city of Wenatchee, and a letter clearing him of any charges.
Glassen’s supervisor, Juana Vasquez, who questioned the investigation and the placement of children in foster care to facilitate criminal investigations, was also fired. A jury later awarded her a judgment of $1.57 million in her suit against the state for wrongful termination and retaliation.
In September 1994, Donna Everett, now living as a foster-daughter with Bob Perez and his wife Luci, accused her parents, Idella and Harold Everett, of molesting her. The next day Perez got a similar accusation from her sister Melinda. Idella and Everett were arrested and duly signed confessions. Their conviction was overturned in 1998, and they got back parental rights to four of their five children. The oldest had been adopted by a family in Wisconsin, and had become a legal adult. Melinda and Donna have now both recanted and say they were pressured by Perez to lie. The Everetts received an undisclosed settlement from the city of Wenatchee.
After the Everetts were arrested, their pastor, un-ordained Pentecostal minister, Robert “Roby” Roberson, tried to get custody of the oldest Everett child. Roberson had originally become involved when DSHS personnel asked them to keep an eye on the family look for signs of abuse. He believed the Everetts were innocent. A CPS caseworker told Roberson that Perez would arrest him if he attempted to contact his parishioners, the Everett children. At Idella Everett’s sentencing, Roberson spoke up in her defense. Roberson later reported that Perez said, “We warned you, Roberson, we warned you,” at the sentencing hearing.
Some of the Everett children were at the Children’s Home Society, but Perez urged that they be moved since the counselors there wouldn’t make good prosecution witnesses. State authorities went along with his request.
Perez continued to interview two Everett girls -- his foster daughter Donna and her sister Melinda, who was also a foster child in the Perez home for a time. Eventually, Donna accused almost every adult she knew in Douglas and Chelan counties. She named many children she knew as victims. Some of these children were then interviewed, and later said they were pressured to accuse their parents.
The sisters described adults standing in line to have sex with children. They named foster parent Robert Devereux and Paul Glassen -- the social worker who had been arrested earlier when he reported a child’s recantation. Eventually, the girls named over a hundred abusers.
At one point, Perez drove Donna around Wenatchee in Douglas County and East Wenatchee, in Chelan country, in his police car and she pointed at 22 homes where she said had been abused in orgies. She also pointed at a taxi driver and a deliveryman. In the back seat, CPS caseworkers took down all the names and addresses.
Arrests were made, and although some of the 43 arrested had charges dismissed, others confessed, were sentenced, and went to prison or were tried and found guilty. In 1995, when the investigations were at their height, Douglas county commissioners and Douglas and Chelan county prosecutors asked for a grant of state funds to pay for the burgeoning costs of foster care, counselors, expert witnesses, and more prosecutors and police. They received $141,098. Public defenders, however received no extra funds.
Questions
But some Wenatchee citizens began questioning the investigation. Pastor Roberson attended a city council meeting and afterwards gave a television interview about the cases. The day after the interview aired, Douglas County police and the State Patrol searched the church and Roberson's home, removing carpet samples to look for semen. About a week later, the Roberson’s four-year old daughter Becky was taken from them and held as a material witness.
Eventually, Roberson and his wife Connie were accused of running organized ritual sex abuse from the East Wenatchee Pentecostal Church and House of God and food bank. At their December 1995 trial, which featured little Becky as a defense witness, a Chelan county jury acquitted them in three hours. The jury foreman characterized the prosecutions as “a witch hunt.” A Sunday school teacher, Honnah Sims, was also acquitted, and charges were dropped against the driver of the church van. The Robersons and their codefendant settled a lawsuit with the state for $850,000 in December 1999.
Innocence Project Northwest
In 1998, law students and faculty at the University of Washington formed Innocence Project Northwest and took up the cases of the convicted and incarcerated. Eventually, all 18 had verdicts overturned, or made plea bargains to reduced, often unrelated charges. Some, however, had served their full terms while appeals were underway. The last of the 18 defendants was released in December 2000.
More than a dozen civil lawsuits filed by those arrested and by child witnesses against the city of Wenatchee, DSHS, Bob Perez, and other individuals involved in the investigations and prosecutions continue to work their way through the courts.
Sources:
Andrew Schneider and Mike Barber, "The Power to Harm: A Record of Abuses in Wenatchee: Part One,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 23, 1998; "Children Sacrificed for the Case...," Part Two, Ibid., February 24, 1998; "Children Hurt by the System..., Part Three," Ibid., February 25,1998; "With Every Step, Rights Were Trampled...," and "Lies, Lies and More Lies,' says jailed man...," Part Four Ibid., February 26,1998; "'They Robbed me of my Childhood'..." Part Five Ibid., February 27,1998; "Lives Ruined Because Lessons Ignored..." and Andrew Schneider, “Freedom for Wenatchee Couple 'But Everything Else is Gone'” Ibid., September 28, 1998; Andrew Schneider and Mike Barber, "For Many, Wenatchee Sex-case Trauma Continues,” Ibid., December 1, 1998; Mike Barber, “Ex-defendant in Sex-ring Case Settles Lawsuit for $290,00," Ibid., February 24, 1999; Mike Barber, “Wenatchee Suit Settled for $850,000” Ibid., December 31, 1999; Mike Barber, “Now Wenatchee Girl Can Call Parents 'Mom and Dad' Again,” Ibid., January 14, 2000; “Reduced Plea Frees Man Convicted in Wenatchee Sex Case, AP, Ibid., March 16, 2000; Mike Barber, “Once Wrongly Accused, Wenatchee Suspect Now 'a Free Guy,'” Ibid., April 12, 2000; John K. Wiley, "Two Wenatchee Sex Abuse Defendants Released AP, Ibid.,, June 8, 2000; Mike Barber, “Wenatchee Couple Settle Suit in Child-sex-abuse Case,” Ibid., October 5, 2000; “Couple Win Back Four of Five Children...," AP, Ibid., December 21, 2000; “Last Child-sex Ring Defendant Released from Prison After Court Action,” Ibid., December 27, 2000; Mike Barber, "Wenatchee Must Pay $718,000 in Sanctions Over Abuse Case...," Ibid.,, August 4, 2004.
By Kathrine Beck , October 28, 2004
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