Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 'In the Valley of Sin': Pastor speaks out, arrested, beaten!

Episode Date: May 11, 2021

"In the Valley Of Sin" is a six-hour docuseries that examines the mid-90's witch-hunt that pitted neighbor against neighbor in Wenatchee, Washington, when police uncovered a monstrous child sex ring known among its membership as 'The Circle.'Local authorities alleged that dozens of children were raped in the bedrooms of their parents, in the homes of their neighbors, and at ritualized orgies on the altar of a church. But there was one problem: there was no sex ring, a truth that only emerged after 43 parents were arrested and dozens of children were made wards of the state.Today, Nancy Grace speaks with Pastor Roby Roberson, his wife Connie, and daughter Rebekah Osborn. As Pastor Roby speaks out about the injustice of the arrests, he and Connie arrested themselves and charged with child abuse.Joining Nancy Grace today: Pastor Roby Roberson - victim Connie Roberson - victim  Rebekah Osbourn - Robersons' Daughter.     Tom Grant - Award-winning journalist (30+ years), former reporter, KREM, Associate Professor of Journalism at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, co-executive producer of “In the Valley of Sin” and other documentaries,   www.drthomasgrant.com    Elizabeth Loftus - Distinguished Professor, Psychological Science, Criminology, Law & Society Cognitive Sciences School of Law, University of California, Irvine, leading human memory expert, author “The Myth of Repressed Memory”    Kathryn Lyon - Author, “Witch Hunt: A True Story of Social Hysteria and Abused Justice”, former public defender, Pierce County, Washington Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. You know, we hear of scenarios like this in other countries like Russia or China or North Korea, where people are rounded up in the night and arrested, and they're never really sure about what they're being charged with, and they don't have a voice, they can't speak out, they can't fight back. Well, it's not just Russia and China and North Korea. It happened right here, not just in our beloved America. It happened in Wenatchee, the so-called apple capital of the world,

where there's nothing but apple orchards and green as far as the eye can see. I got to tell you, it pains me to tell the story because I've told so many juries that they should believe a child because children don't have the skills and deception that adults have, it's much harder for them to lie and stick to a long, complicated story. Well, that much is true unless that statement was coerced, forced. I am talking about the valley of sin. Mothers, fathers, pastors, pastors' wives being herded up like cattle and thrown behind bars. Many of them illiterate, couldn't read, didn't understand what was going on. Let me introduce to you an all-star panel joining me today. First

of all, Robbie and Connie Roberson. Let me correct myself. Pastor Roberson and his wife Connie, who spoke out against what they saw happening and how did they get paid back? They were thrown in jail and Pastor Robertson was beaten. Rebecca Osborne, the Robertson's daughter, Tom Grant, award-winning journalist, 30 plus years, former reporter, KREM, now professor of journalism at ABAC, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, and co-producer of In the Valley of Sin and many other documentaries at drthomasgrant.com. Dr. Elizabeth Loftus with us. She's especially important. She's a distinguished professor, psychological sciences,

and she is the author of the myth of repressed memory some of these children were put into treatment to regain their lost memories there were no memories to regain they were coerced to say their parents raped them. Shocking. Right here in our country, Anne Catherine Lyon, author of Witch Hunt, A True Story of Social Hysteria and Abused Justice, former public defender, right there in Pierce County, Washington. To all of you, welcome. It's a very bitter pill for me to swallow to realize what happened within our justice system. First of all, guys, take a listen to Pastor Roberson. Well, it was really weird.

I guess what really started the whole ball rolling in this thing was on a Thursday night prayer meeting. I happened to be kneeling here at the altar and had been praying for all these people because it was really troubling me, especially about the Everts. This old Bible right here was like this. I just happened to kind of look over like this. It was a passage in Psalms or Proverbs. I don't remember which one, but basically it said who's going to defend those who cannot speak for themselves? And I just looked at that and I'm going like, wow, that's Harold and Idella. That's Mr. and Mrs. Everett.

Your words, Pastor Robertson, really moved me. I never tried a single case without my Bible on the table, hoping for a divine intervention and praying that I always do the right thing. Pastor, welcome. Connie, welcome. And to Rebecca Osborne, your daughter, welcome. First to you, Pastor Robertson, what happened? I can't believe this. I'm already crying. I feel like crying, if that makes you feel any better. Good, thank you. Yeah.

I'll be okay in a minute. Hey, are you still a working pastor? Yes, ma'am. 35 years. The only time we weren't behind the pulpit was when we were in jail. And even in jail, I think it was a Easter service that I preached on the telephone until they finally found out what was happening, and they took that away from me even. But, yeah, that was the only time that Connie and I haven't been behind the pulpit there at the Arch Pentecostal Church and God House of Prayer in East Wenatchee. And it's been, like I said, 35 years, And very difficult the last few years

because of the stigma still from the Wenatchee section. Oh, well, you know, I got to tell you, whenever I would be prosecuting and I'd look at somebody's rap sheet and I'd see dismissed, dismissed, dismissed, vacated, I'm like, you're right. I wouldn't really believe it. And the other day, Pastor, I spoke to, well, many, many of the then child victims of rape and molestation and the guilt and their father of raping and abusing

them and it was all a lie and mommy and daddy went to jail and they got to carry that around i mean the mommies and daddies were ultimately released but you're right you carry the stigma of being arrested and charged with for p Pete's sake, child molestation. The lowest of the low. And your children have to live with their forced statements that ended up putting you in jail. I mean, what a travesty. Okay. I don't want to hear me. I hear me all the time. I want to hear you.

So you're at prayer service and it's a Thursday night. You see that phrase out of the Bible. And what did you do? I turned around I stood up and I said, excuse me everybody. And everybody was on the kneel underneath praying, some in the pews and some in the pulpit and some at the altar. And I told everybody, I said, I need to go down. There's a meeting tonight where the guy from Spokane, the vocal group, we put it together. I said, I need to take all this material I put together.

And unfortunately I may be causing trouble for everybody. We may even be arrested, but I'm going down to this meeting and we'll just see what happens. People need to know what I've been finding out nobody will listen i said i tried everything and nobody will listen and that was it went down to the meeting and sat there and listened to everybody and mr grant was sitting way up in front with his camera guy and now this was a town hall meeting of sorts correct no it wasn't there was a town hall meeting that what was it this was a pud this was a meeting just called by a number of just citizens from Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, actually, at the PUD auditorium in East Wenatchee.

The big town meeting was in Wenatchee. So when you go there, what led you to go there? Why did you feel like you had to take up for Mr. and Mrs. Everett? Well, at that time, it was Kim Albee. It was Donna Rodriguez's daughter who had made the recantation. They had forced her. And as you were telling about these kids and the stigma, I got to tell you what happened and went at you. All these kids, the reason they said what they said, they weren't so much coerced into saying these things to put the people in prison. They were coerced into saying these things to put the people in prison. They were coerced into saying these things to keep their parents out of prison. They were told that they would say these things.

We'll talk to your parents. They'll get treatment or whatever. And we will reunite you. You'll be back home. And so that was a reason that all of this started was because the kids, oh, well, OK. And they said, well, yeah, then this did happen. And that was it. That's what started this whole thing.

Did you know the Everetts, Harold and Idella? Oh, did I know them? For years, Richard, their oldest son, I tried to adopt him even. He was like my own little boy. And every day, Harold and Idella can't read or write. I was there every day at their house. I would pick up Richard from school and Saturday mornings I would go over. He was the youngest kid probably

in Wenatchee to ride a riding lawnmower around my church. He would help me every day. Sunday, he was there. I literally at one time said that I was in the house probably every day. And I think it's pretty close. And I knew everything that was going on. The house was never locked. There were times I'd take Richard home, maybe at one in the morning, two in the morning, three in the morning. I mean, late at night, sometimes in and out during the day. I was there every day. There was never anything in that house. Harold and Adela loved their kids, very poor people. But boy, let me tell you, they took care of their children. You know what?

It reminds me so much of home. My mother and father, well, we were poor. There's really no other way to put it. But I never knew that as a child. We were so happy and loved. Connie Roberson, Pastor Roberson's wife, also with us. Connie, do you remember when your husband, Pastor Robertson, spoke out against these prosecutions and said there's no way the Everetts molested their children? Oh, yes. And when he decided to go to that meeting,

I thought, oh, man, we're going to be targeted. I really did. You know what? It reminds me so much of Daniel going in the lion's den. When you know you are headed for trouble, but you go anyway. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Do you remember, guys, after Pastor Robertson goes to the meeting and says what he has to say about how the Everetts, Harold and Idila, would never have molested their children? Do you remember what happened next, Connie? Well, I wasn't at the meeting.

I stayed at the prayer meeting at the church with the people that were there. But when he told me what went on, I was even more sure that we were next. It was like guilt by association situation. So, yeah, I was shattered. I was shaking. Robbie, Pastor Robbie, what happened after you spoke out at that meeting? Nancy, call me Robbie from now on. Don't worry about the pastor part.

Tom Grant. No can do. No can do, preacher, but okay. Okay, I'll preach it. Anyways, Tom Grant. No can do. No can do, preacher. But okay. Okay, I'll preach it. Anyways, Tom Grant, I got down there with my file, sat in the back, and I noticed when I walked in some Wenatchee cops. I knew two of them, and I just, I thought, what are these guys doing here? And then I looked around, and I saw a whole bunch of people that I knew and that had been talking about this stuff, Mr. Robert Kincaid and I think maybe Gene Wake.

Anyway, there was a number of people from Wenatchee that I knew had been going forward with this. And finally, at the end, after they talked about all of this stuff, I think it was Mr. Grant or maybe Mr. Kincaid, I don't remember who it was, said something about me having this file, and, you know, was I there, and I tried to get up to the front, and as I was walking up to the front, Mike McNotty, we call him Mad Dog, and I still believe, despite all the stuff against Bob Perez, I'm the one, I believe that Mike Mike McNulty is the one that started this whole thing. I was the Kimball family with Michelle and the kids,

not Bob Perez. And I think he was the one that led Bob the wrong way. And Mike tried to get the file from him and John Cruz. And as they stopped me going up there, I more or less, one of them said, Hey Mike, the camera's on it. And Mr. hey, Mike, the camera's on him.

And Mr. Grant's cameraman had the camera focused on him. And as they turned around, I took my elbows and shoved my weight through both of them, almost knocked Mr. McNotty over. I went up to the front. Naturally, they didn't follow me up there. But I went up and I remember Mr. Grant introduced myself. And he was sitting in the very front row. I can remember this so clear right now.

I could paint a picture if I was an artist. And I said, you need to see this stuff. And I said, especially this one. It was a file that had been slipped under the door of my church, and the one that I showed him I think was from maybe Cindy Andrews. I don't remember from who, but it said more or less as of this time, we've not been able to obtain any disclosures from these children. We'll continue to work toward this, you know, to assist you in the prosecution of their parents.

And this was from a counselor. This was a counselor's file. Okay, hold on. Let me understand what you're saying, Preacher. You're saying that somebody shoved this these documents uh under at your door and you looked at them and it said have not been able to what obtain enough evidence that will continue working no it didn't say evidence that we would not obtain any disclosures from these any of these children asked through any abuse. I understand. Yeah, not just evidence.

It was disclosed. In other words, the kids weren't saying anything. And anyway, I actually had it outlined and highlighted in yellow. And I remember, and I don't know if Tom remembers this, but I will never. I told this story so many times in the last 25 years. Tom sat in the chair. He was on the left. He was on the chair in the front. His cameraman had the camera over Tom's shoulder shooting this document that Tom was reading. And Tom started reading through it. And I remember him stopping and looking at it. And he turned around, he looked at me. And I remember this tear in his eyes. He looked at me and he said, my God, these people are innocent or something that's real close to that.

And actually, Preacher, joining me right now is Tom Grant, an award-winning journalist who has co-executive produced In the Valley of Sin. Don't ask my wife what she calls Tom Grant, Nancy. I won't. I try never to do what a pastor tells me not to do, knowingly. Tom Grant, do you remember that night? I remember that night. I'm not sure that I shed any tears, but I don't want to be exposed as an old softie, I guess. What happened?

That night was a gathering of people who were all interested in these cases. And I had been down there and done interviews earlier that day said that the police had failed to examine this closely and clearly, and that there were real problems with the investigation. And, of course, the police who were there refused to answer any questions about that, which was one of the things that I discovered as time went on. And Pastor Robbie showed me some documents, and I love documents, and many of these documents came from Child Protective Services showing how they were treating the children, what was happening to the children, because they had to make reports every three months when a kid went into custody. And these reports would indicate that especially the, you know, the most credible child in the family, Richard, was saying that none of this ever happened and that other kids

were not making, you know, incredible disclosures either. And so to me, it was raising questions from the very beginning about just what kind of investigation was going on. Well, as a matter of fact, there came a moment where not only was it kept secret that the children were not ratting out their parents, documents played a major role in discovering the truth. Take a listen to this. The documents that Pastor Robbie got, like initial reports, but other investigative materials that would have been disclosed to the attorneys of these people who were accused. And in particular, the most interesting documents were the ones that came from Child Protective Services. Because any time a child is taken away from a parent,

Child Protective Services has to do regular reports. And those regular reports are available to the parents. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we are telling you the story of, actually, the title says it best, in the Valley of Sin. This most beautiful rural landscape, a place you'd move to keep your children safe. Wenatchee, Washington, the apple capital of the world, a massive child molestation, trafficking, and child rape scheme, a prosecution underway where you have about 40 adults charged with nearly 30,000 offenses of child sex molestation involving 60 children.

It all has turned out to be a lie. This after parents put in jail children torn away from their parents. Moms and dads literally dragged away from the supper table at night to go to jail. And why? Well, after Pastor Robbie Robertson speaks up, well you know what happens. Take a listen to this. Pastor Robbie had been speaking up for a long time. And whenever Pastor Robbie spoke up, notes would be made, conversations would be had that, well, Pastor Robbie must have a reason for doing this. And obviously some bad reason, like he's involved with something.

And they began to target him. Pastor Robbie, do you remember when you were arrested? Only too well. Only too well. It's March the 28th. It was just a couple days after that meeting with Tom Grant, actually, and I'll never forget it. night on the Kremt news it was pretty interesting and at that point I began to be pretty scared and on Monday I remember I was doing the pickups and stuff down at top foods and the owners of top foods the managers down there the big grocery chain they had bought in a huge reefer truck for us for our food bank we were hauling food up to Waterville anyway it was uh here's some cops pulled in and they just pulled in and Rebecca and We were hauling food up to Waterville anyway. It was, here's some cops

pulled in and they just pulled in and Rebecca and I were unloading food and they drove through and I looked and they just kind of looked and drove by and that was it. And I thought, well, that's weird. That was on Monday, Tuesday morning, the next morning. here it was food bank and hundreds of people and and uh that night on monday night uh on national television it was really weird uh i think it was dan rather uh whatever the cbs uh network was and and here just come up about winanchi and the document and here that very same one that I had given to Tom, they showed the document, they showed the highlighting on it and everything, and this was the document about no, you know, no disclosures from the kid.

And I'm going like, oh, man, this is dangerous. What happened? Here they came, over the fences, cops all over, State Patrol, Sheriff's Department, Wenatchee Police Department, East Wenatchee Police Department. I mean, there was like somewhere around eight to ten cars from what I can remember. They were coming over the fence in the back of the church, people all over the place. Next thing I know, here they are coming up, and it was Helvey was his name,

Douglas County Sheriff's Department. Said, Mr. Roberson, you're under arrest for child molestation or child rape. And they handcuffed me, literally slammed me on the ground. They drug me across the parking lot basically after I got up and put me in the car. And as I was being put in the car, just as they went by, unfortunately or fortunately, here Rebecca had been stayed overnight with our best friends, and they pulled up and I kind of mouthed to Marv, get her out of here, get her out of here. And anyway, all three of his two girls and Rebecca were in the back, all dressed in the same coat.

I walked by, they slammed me in the car and that was it. To your wife, Connie, Connie, you were actually arrested where you were taking classes at college. What happened? Well, I was at the Wenatchee Valley College taking a course on homeschooling because I wanted to teach my daughter at home. Well, I was sitting in the classroom, Robin Wag and another man. The only reason why I know it was Robin Wag because I learned out later who he was. Anyway, they came in, and they had everyone leave the room, and they looked at me, and I said, what's going on? And they said, well, you're under arrest for so many counts of child abuse.

And I said, what? So they handcuffed me in the back and marched me down the hallway and right up the front where the registration was going on for the spring quarter, lots and lots of people there, through the front doors and into the squad car, which is almost back behind the school building. They could have taken me out the back, but they took me out the front. And when I got in the cop car, I realized that trouble was on the brew. Let me ask you, Ms. Robertson, you're now charged at that point with child molestation. Who was supposedly the child you molested?

Oh, many. Didn't know. Had no idea. Had no idea. They didn't tell me. But now do you know who the children were that you allegedly molested? Yeah, sure do. Even our own daughter.

Not only the Everett girls, Everett kids. Does that include Rebecca? You bet it did. And joining me right now is Rebecca Osborne, the Roberson's daughter. Rebecca, thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me. Rebecca, you pulled up in a car and saw your dad arrested? Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am. I remember it clear as day. What happened? Oh, in that particular instance, I remember, like you said, I had stayed the night with some family friends because he had two girls that were right around the same age as me. We played together all the time. So I remember that we had all just gotten coats just a couple months prior to this, that were literally all exactly the same because we all wanted to look like sisters, you know? And so we all had these coats that were exactly the same, just different sizes for all three of us girls. And, uh, we had pulled in cause we were supposed to meet my dad there for food bank that morning.

And I remember it was like almost right as we got there, looking out the back window. And there my dad was being thrown on the ground and handcuffed by all the police. And it was just a madhouse. Everybody was just, you know, confused what was going on. And Marv, my dad's friend, was, Oh my gosh, what do we do? And, you know, I, I do remember my dad saying something quietly, but to Marv, he was like, get her out of here. And, uh, so Marv just said, okay, you know, didn't even say anything, just kept going, um, pulled out the parking lot. Uh, one of the cops stopped him and said, uh, what are you doing here? And he said,

we're just here for food bank. It's Tuesday, but it looks like there's a bunch of stuff going on. So, you know, I'm just going to take my girls back home. We'll come back another day. And he said, well, who's back here? He said, my girls. And I said, all right, we'll get out of here. And he took off. And that was that was the first time the police saw me and they didn't even realize that I was right in front of them, only by the grace of God. Rebecca, were you ever questioned? Were you ever questioned as to whether your mother and father sex molested you? Oh, absolutely. You know, I was in hiding for a few weeks before they finally found me and took me into custody.

With your grandma? Yes. Yep. I was with my grandma when they finally found me. Guys, hold on just one moment. We keep referring to Pastor Robertson as being arrested. He wasn't just arrested. They kept calling me all kinds of dirty names and you child molester and you rapist and blah, blah, blah. And when they bent me over to strip search me and check the cavities and all for contraband, I was bending over and he took his foot and he kicked me in the back

and smashed my head into the cement block walls and literally almost knocked me out. And I hit the ground and he said, stand up, you SOB. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we were talking about a witch hunt in Wenatchee. The so-called Apple apple capital of the world, where you move to keep your children safe.

You are hearing Rebecca Osborne, who was taken away from her father, Pastor Robertson, and his wife, Connie, her mother, and questioned repeatedly as to whether her parents had sex molested her. She gets taken to her grandparents, to her grandmothers, away from her parents. Can you imagine being thrown in jail on false charges and being torn away from your children? Take a listen to this. And then I remember being at my grandma's house for a while. And I remember every night when she took me in for bed,

you know, she'd be like, just remember to pray to God and his angels will be all around you. And she always told me that every night. Just pray to God and his angels will be all around you. Sorry. Okay. I remember a cop knocked on a door. We're looking for Rebecca and we know she's here you've got to give her up

and she the last thing she said to me was just pray to God his angels will watch over you so at first Rebecca while your mother and father are thrown into jail for child molestation you for Chomla Station, you go to your grandma's until you're taken away from her. Where did you end up? I ended up in the police station or CPS office. I honestly can't remember which one it was. I just remember cubicles and stuffed animals. I think it was honestly Perez's office because Bob Perez was there and CPS worker was there and the the brainwashing questioned yeah yeah the brainwashing instantly started it wasn't

question it when you say brainwashing what do you mean what were you told or asked I I was never asked anything I was told everything being four years old I think that they just thought that they'd get me to parrot everything that they wanted to say. So it was, we know your parents molested you. We know that you had molestation go on at their church. We know that all these other children were involved. And we know that you've seen it and you just are scared to say it. But it's okay.

You can tell everybody what's going on and then you'll hopefully get to see your parents again was you know always the carrot that they dangle you know just say these things and you know we'll get you back to your parents but it was never asked it was always told we were literally told exactly what to say did Did you say, Rebecca, you were four years old? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. I was four years old. I believe my children would say anything to get back to their mother and father. I really believe that, much less four years old. Yeah. And what did they ultimately have you say? Ultimately, it was alleged child abuse and molestation and that things were happening in the church. I know that it was just the grace of God because I knew very clearly, even though I was only four, I knew I was in

an unsafe situation. I knew that if I didn't tell these people what they wanted to say, that I was never going to see my parents. But I also knew that if I didn't tell these people what they wanted to say that I was never gonna see my parents but I also knew that if I told a lie I was never gonna see my parents again so it's kind of a catch-22 and you know definitely a God thing that I realized that at four years old but every time I went in for one of these sessions I would just kind of agree with them be like yep mm- okay. Let me now go to distinguished professor Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, author of The Myth of Repressed Memory. Dr. Loftus, thank you for being with us. What do you make of so many efforts to make these children

remember being raped? That's what was going on, not only with the investigators, but also with the so-called therapists that were trying to extract these disclosures. They were not giving the kids breaks. They were not taking no for an answer. They were telling them what happened and insisting on what happened before there'd been any mention out of the mouth of the and then you do this with a four-year-old they are they are even more suggestible than the older children so you know it's a it's a recipe for disaster. You know, Dr. Loftus, in all the molestation cases I ever took to trial, I always asked an open-ended question or even have a child draw to me, draw a picture to me for me what happened. Because I wanted to hear it in their words, not my words. And I learned a lot by listening.

Rebecca, how many times do you think you said, no, this didn't happen? Every single time. Every single time. And it wasn't just, it was multiple people. I mean, I had moments where it was Bob Perez, the chief of police at the time. I remember being CPS workers. I remember it being my foster parents when they finally put me into foster care after they put me in custody. And it was a daily thing.

If it wasn't one of the persons, it was one of the other persons. And I was adamant. I was like, no, it didn't happen. But I will say that after an hour or two hours of, you know, these brainwashing sessions, I'd finally just be like, yep, okay, yep, whatever you say, just to kind of get out of that situation. But ultimately, as you'll find out, when it boiled down to me being really aft in the courtroom, I flat out said no, and I'm not going to lie, because I knew. The big question in so many people's minds is who is behind this? Take a listen. He causes problems by crossing arms, puffing up his chest.

Officer reaction is, let's get it on. Likes having power over people. He appears to pick out people and target them. Has the idea that people always have to do what he tells them all of the time. I'd forgotten these. It's like wound up wire ready to spring. His performance evaluation is of a person who I wouldn't trust in a position of such extreme power over people. Power and arrogance.

Joining me now, Catherine Lyon, author of Witch Hunt, A True Story of Social Hysteria and Abused Justice. The former public defender there in Pierce County, Washington. Catherine, thank you for being with us. Thank you. Who was Perez, Detective Perez, and what motivated him and others that would not stand up for what was right? Why? Well, first of all, what you heard or what was expressed was of the performance evaluations he had. And that gave you a good indication of who he was.

He was actually volunteered with the police for a while. He had a former incident with his own child where he'd spent time in jail over stealing a cigarette lighter. I think he spent 45 days or thereabouts in custody because of what was a minor incident. And so when it came to children, he had a very definite view of using his authority to get what he wanted. He had minimal training. He didn't have any training at all when he rotated into the position. He rotated into the position, became a detective while he was in the position, and then at some point was going to rotate out. What do you think was the motivation to coerce children into lying? Well, I don't doubt that he has a concern about children, but he also had a lot of bias about this,

people that were limited in intelligence and money and so on in the community, and it started some theories. He had the power to do it. He said, I'm no better than any other policeman. I just took the next step. And his next step was purely coercive. Did you try and speak up? Did you try and speak up, Catherine? Yeah, I, what I tried to do, I put together an investigative report, which ended up being about 200 pages. I didn't go to meetings and say this was wrong, but what I did was document things. I started out by reviewing all the records going back years with some of the kids,

especially the child who was placed in his foster home. Catherine Lyon is the author of Witch Hunt, A True Story of Social Hysteria and Abused Justice, a former public defender there in Pierce County, Washington. Let me ask you, Robbie and Connie, how long were you in jail? Well, it was like, it was like, it was like, I think around four and a half months. Let me go to Rebecca Osborne, your daughter. Rebecca, how has it affected your life being taken away from your mother and your father, even being part of the investigation against them, being pulled away from your grandmother and put in foster care? It was very traumatizing in the moment. I do have to always just preach I had this hedge of protection. I always said

that I could feel my parents praying for my protection because although all of this stuff was going on, I still felt safe. To Elizabeth Loftus, Dr. Loftus, I've spoken with then-children, now adult victims, that bear the guilt of having put their parents behind bars because of forced statements, allegations of rape and molestation. I really don't know how you could ever get past that self-loathing of doing that to your parents. Well, it's interesting. It's so many years. His wife were acquitted eventually. So many years and lots of litigation that followed. So many years since they've been

free and you can still feel the pain in Rebecca. It may never go away for her. I don't know that it will ever go away, too. Tom Grant, it's really hard for me to take in that even when these children tried to recant and say this didn't happen, no one would listen. And that's one of the huge problems with this case is that there was only one answer that the investigators would accept. And that was the answer that, yes, the children had been abused, and yes, they were hurting. And as you've seen in other cases, that they should feel good when their parents go to jail. And that is, to me, is so disturbing. It must create such a huge cognitive dissonance in children that I don't know how they can deal with it. And I see the trauma existing years later. Years and years later, Tom. Guys, Pastor Roberson had permanent hearing damage

because of the beating he took behind bars. I want to tell you about the Roberson Recovery PayPal to help them to donate to help this family after all they have been through. As we go forward, we are looking in depth into what happened to the families there in Wenatchee. The families that are sent to jail, that are torn away from their children, we're following each and every one of them. Next, a shocking twist in the valley of sin. I'm Nancy Grace, Crime Story signing off. Goodbye, friend.

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