How fabricated claims of a child-sex ring rocked a Washington state community
Fox Nation's 'In the Valley of Sin' examines the disturbing tale
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox Nation's new docuseries "In the Valley of Sin," tells the story of a fabricated child-sex ring in Wenatchee, Washington.
The journalist who covered the disturbing tale, Tom Grant, joined "America's Newsroom" on Friday to share the experiences of the Wenatchee residents.
'IN THE VALLEY OF SIN': THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE FAKE SEX RING THAT CHANGED WENATCHEE FOREVER
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Everything changed for the town of Wenatchee when two children accused their birth parents of sexual assault in 1994. Detective Bob Perez, their foster parent, then started an investigation into these claims, resulting in the discovery of an alleged child-sex ring. However, the allegations weren't true.
Grant explained, "Back in the mid-90s a detective suddenly... got appointed to become the... child abuse cop for that town. And he began arresting people one after another, eventually arresting more than 40 people and... sending many of them to prison."
As a result of Perez's investigation, the town's church congregation was fictitiously labeled as the epicenter of these alleged crimes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The story was that there... were a series of interlocking sex rings in this town involving a foster home, a Pentecostal church, and... many of the poorest people in the community," the journalist said.
In reality, Perez intimidated children into wrongfully accusing parents and others of partaking in this fictitious sex ring.
Grant went on to say that, "[Perez] would talk to the children, they would make accusations, he would arrest people. Everybody would be rewarded, and they'd go back and talk to him again."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In total, 29,726 accounts of sexual abuse were recorded and 43 parents went to jail.
To this day, the town of Wenatchee is still scarred from the harrowing accusations.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It destroyed many of these families, it tore them apart for years. And it's been extremely hard... putting things back together. And certainly, they can never come back in a normal fashion..." Grant described.
The investigative journalist also warned that he is "quite certain" something like this could still happen today.
Watch "In the Valley of Sin," streaming on-demand beginning on Sunday, May 9th on Fox Nation.
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