Author Fights Sex-Ring Case Subpoena

The author of a report that criticizes the investigation and prosecution of the so-called Wenatchee sex-ring cases said Wednesday she will fight a subpoena seeking her notes, documents and video and audio tapes.

“The information requested is all available by deposing people named in the subpoena. They don’t need my notes to get information from them,” Kathryn Lyon, a Pierce County public defender, said.

The subpoena was issued at the request of attorney Pat McMahon, who is representing Wenatchee police detective Bob Perez in a suit filed in Chelan County Superior Court.

Perez - lead investigator in the sex-ring case in which dozens were prosecuted - and the state Department of Social and Health Services are being sued by three Child Protective Services workers who contend they were fired because they had questioned handling of the case.

Lyon’s report, “The Wenatchee Report,” contains more than 250 pages of interviews and documents about the case purporting to show civil-rights violations involving children and families in Chelan and Douglas counties.

Police and prosecutors involved in the investigation dispute much of the information in the document. The report also was reviewed by U.S. Justice Department investigators who concluded in February that no civil-rights violations had occurred.

Much of Lyon’s report centers on allegations that Perez and others, including CPS caseworkers, coerced and manipulated children and adult witnesses.

Lyon and other critics also question police destruction of notes and failure to tape interviews.

Authorities say as many as 50 children had been forced to have sex with adult participants in two loosely organized sex rings since 1988.

Nineteen defendants have been convicted or have pleaded guilty. Three people were acquitted, and charges against five others were dismissed. One case is pending.