Last Wenatchee child sex ring lawsuit settled

The last of more than 30 lawsuits against the city of Wenatchee stemming from a sex ring investigation during the 1990s that resulted in numerous overturned convictions has been settled for $120,000.

The settlement, finalized in an order filed May 18 in Chelan County Superior Court, was with Marlene "Donna" Everett, her brother, Shawn Everett, and their lawyers.

Local officials admitted no wrongdoing, Mayor Dennis Johnson said.

"It's the last one, the very last one," Johnson told The Wenatchee World on Thursday. "It's a huge relief for the city."

The Everetts are two of the four children of Harold and Idella Everett, who were arrested in 1994 and pleaded guilty to child molesting. The state Court of Appeals reversed their convictions and they were released from prison in 1998.

From April 1994 through 1995, nearly 60 people were investigated, many of them poor, uneducated or developmentally disabled, and 43 were charged with more than 29,000 counts of sexual abuse involving some 50 children.

Of the 26 who were convicted of felonies, 18 won acquittal on appeal, largely aided by the Innocence Project Northwest, or pleaded guilty to reduced charges while appeals were pending.

The Everett family and many others in the case attended the Pentecostal Church of God House of Prayer in East Wenatchee, where police alleged that some youngsters talked of ritualistic orgies with children and adults. Among those who were acquitted were the Rev. Robert "Roby" Roberson, his wife Connie and Sunday school teacher Honnah Sims.

Donna Everett was placed in foster care in 1994 and assigned for a time to the custody of Robert Perez, a police detective and lead investigator. She and her sister, Melinda, also in foster care at the Perez house, made some of the most lurid accusations, then said Perez and others had coerced them into making false statements.

Harold and Idella Everett were arrested in late 1994, pleaded guilty to child molesting and were released from prison in 1998 after the Court of Appeals reversed their convictions.

They and their children filed a total of four lawsuits against the city Wenatchee. Three were resolved earlier.

In the fourth case, the appeals court dismissed most claims by Donna and Shawn Everett in October but let stand a claim of negligent investigation, the issue at stake in the final settlement.

Johnson said that when he took office in 2000, the city was facing more than 30 lawsuits stemming from the probe. Wenatchee won in three that went to trial and settled numerous cases out of court.