State Agency Under Investigation In Sex Ring TV Station Reports Probe Of Child Protective Services

A state agency responsible for protecting children is being investigated in connection with a massive child sex-abuse case in the Wenatchee area, a television station reports.

The investigation focuses in part on whether Child Protective Services workers removed children from homes where they had been abused and placed them in foster homes where they were abused again, Roy Harrington, a regional manager for the state Division of Children and Family Services, told KHQ-TV.

The report was aired Thursday.

Among other things, officials are investigating Paul Glassen, who was fired about three weeks ago from his position as a foster care supervisor in CPS’ Wenatchee office. Harrington told KHQ that Glassen was fired for failing to report child abuse and neglect.

Glassen couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. There was no answer Thursday night at his Wenatchee home.

The state Office of Special Investigations also is looking into the conduct of other CPS employees in Wenatchee, Harrington said.

As many as 50 children in the Wenatchee area are in foster care after their parents were arrested in child sexual abuse cases.

Dozens of adults have been arrested in recent months, and several people have already pleaded guilty or been convicted.

The most prominent among those awaiting trial are an East Wenatchee church pastor, Robert “Roby” Roberson, 50, and his wife, Connie L. Roberson, 45.