O.K. Boys Ranch: State Patrol Probe Spreads The Blame

OLYMPIA - If a five-month Washington State Patrol investigation into the O.K. Boys Ranch sex-abuse scandal turned up any smoking guns, they remain a secret.

The State Patrol yesterday revealed some of what investigators learned from reviewing 171,000 documents and interviewing 120 people linked to the now-defunct group home in Olympia.

The 83-page report spread the blame widely for why dozens of boys were physically, sexually and emotionally abused at the home, even though the facility was supposed to be monitored by the state.

As a state Attorney General's investigation did last year, the State Patrol identified a slew of systemic problems in the state Department of Social and Health Services.

Patrol investigators found that a "social work culture" pervaded the department, in which supervisors had a hard time cracking down on problem employees. The report also noted that many of the employees were poorly trained, and many were not evaluated regularly.

The investigation also discussed how DSHS workers were intimidated by the political connections of the Olympia Kiwanis Club. The club established the home and appointed members to the O.K. Boys Ranch governing board until the facility's closure in 1994.

The reports said the Kiwanis made it a point to recruit prominent local residents with political connections helpful to the club. Members at times were dispatched to approach legislators about problems the home was having with DSHS.

The report noted that because of the Kiwanis' political connections, "DSHS administrators and employees were hesitant to take action."

However, State Patrol Chief Annette Sandberg said there was no evidence that legislators intervened to keep the home open.

The sections of the State Patrol report made public did not answer other questions, including why DSHS workers at times turned a blind eye to clear indications of abuse. Nor did yesterday's disclosures indicate whether the state will hold any DSHS workers, some still holding positions of responsibility, accountable for failings in the Ranch case.

The report noted that a 1988 state audit found reports of abuse documented in the home's logs. The home, nevertheless, was re-licensed twice afterward, and logs weren't monitored by the DSHS worker assigned to keep watch on the home.

Sandberg declined to make findings about individual DSHS employees public, because DSHS is considering disciplinary action. DSHS Secretary Lyle Quasim declined to say whether DSHS would pursue such action until the department reviews the State Patrol's findings.