9-29-95 by Tom Grant

Now I know what it's like to be falsely accused.

Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal reported today on the so-called Wenatchee child sex ring. She presents a clear account of the ridiculous charges that frame the sex ring case -- of people charged with thousands of counts of child rape ("a lifetime's work," writes Rabinowitz), of police officers driving children around town where they point out molesters "passing on the sidewalk," of the pastor sexually attacking young girls in the middle of Sunday sermons.

She also relates the retaliatory nature of some of the charges. Pastor Roby Roberson is not arrested until after he criticizes the police at a public meeting. Bob Kinkade, who was associated with VOCAL, becomes an outspoken critic of police then finds himself named as a sex ring participant. CPS caseworker Paul Glassen reports that a girl has recanted and finds himself accused of tampering with a witness. Defense investigator Larry Daly takes on the Honna Sims case and finds himself barred from the CPS office because of vague rumors that he was abusing children.

Now, Rabinowitz reports, "a high state official" says "Tom Grant, a reporter for CBS affiliate KREM-2 News, who has broadcast an unrelenting, generally remarkable expose of the Wenatchee prosecutions, may also soon come under investigation for sexual abuse."

People in my newsroom ask if this is for real. I am quite satisfied that The Wall Street Journal has a very reputable and highly placed source. I doubt anyone is really investigating me, but I do believe they are trying to discredit my work. After all, I was told early on that a foster parent stood up at a public meeting and suggested I must be a child molester because of what I was reporting. The prosecutor has called me a "media whore" for the horrible thing of requesting public documents. And the Wenatchee World newspaper reporter has asked whether I am employed by defense attorneys.

Thank God, I don't have any young children at home. These are the kind of innuendos and accusations that are scaring Wenatchee residents to death. And I am outraged that this kind of thing can be done to people so lightly.

If you care to help stop these kinds of things from happening in Wenatchee, perhaps you could write or fax or call the Governor of Washington. He is currently trying to decide whether to call for an outside investigation of the Wenatchee case. Perhaps a word from you at this time could help sway him. And I would appreciate it, too.

His address is:
Governor Mike Lowry
Legislative Bldg.
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
fax: 360-753-4110
phone: 360-753-6780

Thanks, for all the people who have been falsely accused in Wenatchee, now including me.

Tom Grant tgrant@comtch.iea.com
Reporter, KREM-TV, PO Box 8037, Spokane, WA 99202
Phone: 509-838-7373

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