Feds Asked To Review Alleged Child Sex Ring

Gov. Mike Lowry has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to review allegations against Chelan and Douglas county officials in investigating and prosecuting alleged adult-child sex rings.

In a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno released Wednesday, Lowry and House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-Wenatchee, said a federal review of the controversial prosecution “would be of great value to the communities involved and to all of us.”

Assistant U.S. attorney Jim Crum here said he referred the case to the agency’s Office of Civil Rights two weeks ago. That division will determine whether to proceed with a review, he said.

“It wouldn’t be a review of the investigation. Basically, what the civil rights people will do is look at the material and determine if it’s true, and if it is, is there a civil rights violation?” Crum said.

Crum said he forwarded the documents to the civil rights division “based on some material furnished us relative to the allegations” and not in anticipation of Lowry’s request.

The governor and Ballard decided a federal investigation was necessary because of allegations involving employees of state agencies, such as Child Protective Services, Lowry spokesman Martin Munguia said.

Twenty-eight adults have been charged since last fall with child rape and sexual abuse in what authorities describe as two loosely organized sex rings in operation since 1988.

Authorities say as many as 50 children may have been involved, forced to have sex with each other and in groups with family members and other adults.

Defendants and their supporters claim the prosecutions were based on testimony from a girl whose foster father was the lead detective in many of the cases. They claim people have been targeted in a vendetta by police and prosecutors.

Some adults and a few children have claimed Wenatchee Police Detective Robert Perez coerced them into lying about the abuse, and have recanted the statements they gave to police.

Perez has declined to comment.

Ballard said in Olympia Wed nesday the issue has become so volatile in Wenatchee that an outside investigator is needed to answer “so many unanswered questions” and “get this behind us.”

He refused to say whether he thought any improprieties had occurred in the investigations.