'Sex ring' investigator gets promoted
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SPOKANE - A social worker who helped police investigate the Wenatchee child-sex-abuse cases - and who disagrees with suggestions that little or no abuse occurred - has taken over state Child Protective Services investigations in Spokane County.
Tim Abbey's recent promotion from the CPS satellite office in Wenatchee has drawn fire from some Spokane social workers and from lawyers who successfully challenged several of the Wenatchee convictions.
Abbey and his staff joined police in interviewing witnesses in 1994-95 and - as required by state law - cooperated with police in an investigation that has since been largely discredited.
"Here's someone running the world's worst investigation ever," said attorney Robert Van Siclen of Auburn, who represented several defendants in the case who subsequently filed claims against Wenatchee-area officials. "Now they put him into a higher position and expect there to be credibility. I think even (CPS) employees think this is the goofiest move ever."
Concerns about Abbey's involvement in the controversial case were raised when he was interviewed for the Spokane post by a seven-member panel of non-CPS social workers, said Rosie Oreskovich, who oversees CPS and other state children's programs in the Department of Social and Health Services.
Ken Kraft, the CPS Eastern Washington regional administrator who approved Abbey's promotion, conceded Abbey's history in Wenatchee was discussed but said he concluded it wouldn't be a problem.
The courts and legal experts have questioned the manner in which the investigation was conducted. Several of the children who accused adults - sometimes even their parents - of sexual abuse have recanted, saying they were coerced into making the accusations.
Abbey, who was not disciplined for his handling of the case, said yesterday that he didn't want to be specific on the amount of abuse he now believes occurred. But he noted that many defendants pleaded guilty.
"I'm a social worker. If you're talking legality and technical stuff, I don't have an answer to that. But, do I believe some people did this, do I believe some of those folks are guilty? Yes."
He said he couldn't recall an instance when he or other CPS staff members questioned police over their handling of the cases.
"If we had seen something we did not agree with, we would have spoken up," he said.
He also said recantations by key witnesses shouldn't be believed.
Abbey told the Spokesman-Review newspaper that he has gotten a bum rap in the media.
"If a parent is worried (about the promotion), I've been in a position where I've been wrongly accused," he said. "I know what it's like to have a reputation attacked."
Abbey, 47, began his career with CPS as a social worker in Bremerton before moving to Wenatchee in 1986 and Spokane on May 7. He was managing Wenatchee investigations when the police investigation led to more than 40 arrests.
In all, 43 people - many of them developmentally disabled - were arrested in Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. Of those, 26 were convicted of felonies.
Since then, 18 have had their convictions overturned by the courts or have pleaded guilty to lesser charges and been released from prison.
Robert Rosenthal, a New York lawyer for three Wenatchee defendants whose convictions were dropped or reversed on appeal, said Abbey had authority to question the investigation and should have done so.
"CPS was in the loop. It wasn't like the police just ran with it," Rosenthal said.
Abbey's former boss, Roy Harrington, said Abbey has been unfairly accused of aiding in faulty prosecutions. Any mistakes that occurred were the fault of police, said Harrington, who is now retired.
Oreskovich said CPS staff members shouldn't be punished for making what she considers tough judgment calls.
The Wenatchee cases prompted CPS to improve training for its social workers, and the agency now plans to audiotape all interviews with alleged child victims.
Abbey concedes interviews in the Wenatchee cases should have been taped.
He said he had no control over some of the most controversial CPS decisions in Wenatchee but declined to offer specifics because of pending lawsuits.
One move frequently cited as an error was CPS' decision - made by Harrington - to allow a key witness and alleged victim to remain in foster care at the home of the lead detective in the sex-rings case.