Wenatchee Overview By Paul Craig Roberts
Washington Times, Wed., May 5,1999
Two decades ago hysterical liberals created a monster -- an unaccountable Gestapo known today as Child Protective Services. Crazed therapists testified before Congress that 75 percent of parents were child abusers and that a new national bureaucracy was necessary to protect children. Congress obliged the therapists' request and unleashed a Frankenstein.
Several years ago the local CPS in Wenatchee, Washington, got the word from the state office to find some cases to justify its budget. Thus began a modern day Salem Witch Hunt that resulted in the arrest of 43 adults on 30,000 counts of sex abuse against 60 children.
It was all a fabrication to justify a budget.
Many of the accused were poor and uneducated. When a local pastor, Robert Roberson, came to their aid, he and his wife were arrested on child sex abuse charges and held on million dollar bonds. Part of Pastor Roberson's lesson from the corrupt police was jail beatings. When Roberson's case went to trial, the falsity of the charges against him were obvious. The Witch Hunt had overreached. Roberson was acquitted, and this was a turning point.
Another turning point was Juana Vasquez, the director of Child Welfare Services in Wenatchee who challenged the charges brought against Robert Devereaux, a kindly man who operated a foster home for children. Her integrity got her fired. This was another mistake by the witch hunters drunk with their power. Mrs. Vasquez was a woman of steel. The daughter of migrant farm workers who worked her way through college and became dean of admissions at Gonzaga University, she could not be intimidated. She took a stand against the injustice and beat the authorities in a law suit that awarded her $1.57 million.
One outcome is that the City of Wenatchee has paid Mr. Devereaux $209,000 to drop his suit for malicious prosecution and wrongful arrest. Pastor Roberson, Mrs. Vasquez and a few others had the courage to stand up to evil and expose the witch hunt. The state Court of Appeals has overturned six cases, handing down rulings highly critical of the police, trial judges, prosecutors and public defenders.
Eleven people remain wrongfully imprisoned awaiting their appeals.
Mrs. Vasquez died on April 29 of brain cancer. She was 48 years old and is survived by eight children and her husband. Mrs. Vasquez and one county commissioner were the only public officials with the courage to challenge the witch hunt. The local newspaper and radio station and the local elites all went along with the false charges.
"I wish I had more time to see this through, to see those from Wenatchee, the innocent people wrongly imprisoned, freed from their cells," were among Mrs. Vasquez's last words. "There are others who have a responsibility to do something, but who stand silent. Our governor still turns his head. Janet Reno looks the other way. [Janet Reno looks the other way because she literally built her career on the backs of such falsely accused people. The false child abuse cases in Florida when she was attorney general in which she was personally involved there are legend. -RT] The legislature does a little, but not enough. Wenatchee can happen again in this state unless the citizens and the government voice their outrage."
Pastor Roberson, Mrs. Vasquez and a brave few helped to end the deafening silence. A Spokane TV station took up the investigation and helped to expose the witch hunt. Then the Seattle Post-Intelligencer turned loose two investigative reporters.
The facts are now in. Public authorities in the state of Washington framed numerous people on false charges and put their children out for adoption. Prosecutors brought the false cases to trail or to plea bargains. Trial judges looked the other way, seeing no evil and hearing no evil. When the sordid witch hunt was exposed, the state responded by appointing commissions [Which pretty much whitewashed it. -RT]. All of the public authorities who framed innocent people remain at large. No indictments have been brought against those responsible for one of the greatest abuses of public power in our history.
And we are supposed to trust government?
[Emphasis mine. I have just one question about this: if it happened in Wenatchee, how many other bureaucracies are abusing parents and children in their efforts to protect their budgets? -RT]
**COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Reference.
To find more information click on the "Manual for the Falsely Accused" Report. The information on this site is not legal advice. Before carrying out suggestions found here consult your attorney. To contact me by mail, write to: PO Box 16247, Denver, CO 80216-0247
HOME
Send email to: raythomas101@hotmail.com