Children of ex-officer say that they were not molested by him 20 years later - Polidicks

[quote] VANCOUVER, Wash. — The two adult children of former Vancouver police Officer Clyde Ray Spencer, who spent nearly 20 years in prison after being convicted of molesting them, testified in court Friday that the abuse never happened. A 33-year-old son recalled how, at age 9, he was repeatedly questioned, alone, by now-retired Detective Sharon Krause, of the Clark County Sheriff's Office. He said that after months of questioning, he said he had been abused just to get Krause to leave him alone. A 30-year-old daughter said she doesn't remember what she told Krause at age 5, but recalled Krause bought her ice cream. The brother and sister, who live in Sacramento, Calif., said that while growing up in California they were told by their mother, who divorced Spencer before he was charged, that they were blocking out the memory of the abuse. They said they realized as adults the abuse had never happened. The fallout from Friday's hearing won't be known for months, after appellate judges weigh in. But the hearing does pave the way for the state Court of Appeals to allow Spencer to withdraw the no-contest pleas he entered in 1985 and have his convictions vacated. After Matthew Spencer and Kathryn Tetz each took a turn on the witness stand, Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis said their testimony followed the written declarations they filed with the Court of Appeals. Written declarations Since the appellate court doesn't take live testimony from witnesses, Lewis was ordered to listen to the siblings testify and see whether they stuck by their written declarations, even under cross-examination by a prosecuting attorney. They did, Lewis said. Spencer, 61, who goes by Ray, hugged his son and daughter after the hearing while a dozen supporters cheered. In 1985, Spencer was also convicted of abusing a 4-year-old stepson, who was not at Friday's hearing. advertising The Court of Appeals ruled his testimony was not necessary, given his age at the time of the alleged crimes and the fact that his mother had had an affair with Krause's supervisor. According to Krause, the detective, the children were together when they were abused. Both Matthew Spencer and Tetz testified their stepbrother was never abused by their father. In 1985, Spencer entered the no-contest pleas, a type of guilty plea, after learning his court-appointed attorney had not prepared a defense. He felt pleading no contest was his only option, and that he would appeal his convictions. Former Judge Thomas Lodge sentenced Spencer to two life terms in prison plus 14 years. For several years, Spencer's appeals failed. He was denied parole five times because he refused to admit guilt and enter a sex-offender treatment program. He hired Seattle attorney Peter Camiel in the mid-1990s. Camiel and a private investigator uncovered disturbing facts about the investigation — including that prosecutors withheld medical exams that showed no evidence of abuse, despite Krause's claims that the children had been violently, repeatedly raped. Those discoveries led Gov. Gary Locke to commute Spencer's sentence in 2004. Spencer was ordered to be on supervision for three years. He's still a convicted sex offender, and Friday's hearing was another step in the long process of clearing his name. The process has taken its toll on Spencer, who suffered a heart attack in April. "For so many years, nothing went right," said Spencer. "When things keep going right, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop." Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kim Farr grilled Spencer's son and daughter about why they are so certain they weren't abused. Matthew Spencer said he knew his father had ruined the relationship with his mother. "He had downfalls. But none of them were molesting children," he said. Tetz said when she finally read the police reports, she was "absolutely sure" the abuse never happened. "I would have remembered something that graphic, that violent." Krause, who declined an interview request from The Columbian in 2005, could not be reached Friday. If the Court of Appeals vacates Spencer's convictions, the case would return to the Clark County Prosecutor's Office. Charges would either be refiled or dismissed. Appeal possible Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Dennis Hunter wasn't ready to wave a white flag on Friday. He said if convictions are tossed, prosecutors could appeal to the state Supreme Court. After the hearing, Spencer, who has received his doctorate in clinical psychology but cannot get his state license as long as he has a criminal record, said he will just have to wait and see. But at least he has his children, who didn't talk to him for more than 20 years. "They were my life, and they were taken away from me. That was the hardest part. I could serve in prison," Spencer said, before his voice trailed off, and his son came up for another hug. [/quote] I understand them doing it then, but to wait so long to say something? I mean, you learn about good touch bad touch pretty early on in most schools, it should be pretty obvious to them. Forgot source >.< [url]http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009456102_recantabuse11m.html[/url]

Embarrassing, that's why.

[quote]They said they realized as adults the abuse had never happened.[/quote] How can you wonder if that happened, it would be one of your most feared moments, and you just NOW realize that it was all a dream? I realize that you can repress memories, but really? the other way around? C'mon people... Preparing for disagrees and stuff now...

[QUOTE=Magistrate;16008016]Embarrassing, that's why.[/QUOTE] Embarrassing that you were basically pestered\tricked into lying about something? It isn't like they lied about it because they didn't like him or something.

Wow, that's unbelievable. 20 years of this guys life wasted for no reason...

Owned. :smile:

That detective Krause needs to be punched in the face.

It pisses me off that they would wait so long while their father is in prison, what assholes. He better get some compensation out of this.

The mother of the children should not have allowed the detective to question them alone. I don't know if it happened or not, however a detective questioning 5-8 year old children ALONE is just weird.

How can this stuff happen? What kind of assholes forces children to lie in order to get an innocent person in jail?

[QUOTE=Lucinice;16008929]How can this stuff happen? What kind of assholes forces children to lie in order to get an innocent person in jail?[/QUOTE] Welcome to Earth, enjoy you stay.

This guy should get a huge compensation, or the mother/detective should get charged with something because that's just bull shit.

[QUOTE=McSanchez;16008695]That detective Krause needs to be punched in the face.[/QUOTE] actually, his supervisor should be punched. in the article, it said the Supervisor and the convicted guy's wife had an affair.

holy shit you kind of have to blame the defense for not doing a good job in clearing his name during his original trial.

The kids should go to jail now. For ruining a large portion of that mans life.

[QUOTE=Xystus234;16009130]Welcome to Earth, enjoy you stay.[/QUOTE] you stay.

It's a good thing they caught this so early, imagine if the poor man had stayed in prison for 20 years! Heartwarming story.

[QUOTE=sebbonaparta;16009906]It's a good thing they caught this so early, imagine if the poor man had stayed in prison for 20 years! Heartwarming story.[/QUOTE] dude, if you're going to participate in the annual Sarcasm BBQ, you'll need a new grill. this one stinks. EDIT: speaking of stenches, I smell incoming Dumb Ratings...

[QUOTE=mugofdoom;16009846]you stay.[/QUOTE] ok you're fucking cool for pointing out a mistake

This stuff has happened before, because those idiot 'Bad Cop, Good Cop' scenarios actually happen, but there's no good cop, and the cop basically brainwashes the kids.

The mother and the detective should serve life sentence. Maybe the children, too.

Those fucking kids :911:

[QUOTE=Faren;16012471]The mother and the detective should serve life sentence. Maybe the children, too.[/QUOTE] The children should be beaten so they have those memory's then everything is back to normal

[I]"It's ok guys, we were just joking about the whole molesting thing, you can let him out now :D"[/I]

[QUOTE=ManningQB18;16008050]How can you wonder if that happened, it would be one of your most feared moments, and you just NOW realize that it was all a dream? I realize that you can repress memories, but really? the other way around? C'mon people... Preparing for disagrees and stuff now...[/QUOTE] It is possible to do that on young children. And it was often used during the Satanic Ritual Abuse or Satanic Scare during the 80's. One example is when a daycare lady got accused of bringing the children down to an underground complex just below the daycare center, where they saw lots of cloaked people torture a girl then impregnate her. Apparently they molested the children too down there. But Nothing was found. When questioning the children they didn't say the normal "What happened?", but instead they said stuff like "where you brought down to a room with scary people?" and "was there a girl in pain?". The 'interrogators' build the story and pretty much plant it into the children. And there's a shitload of more cases like this. Source: [url=http://www.amazon.com/Satanism-Today-Encyclopedia-Religion-Folklore/dp/1576072924]Satanism Today an Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular Culture[/url]

Who wants to throw that supervisor and that wife off a goddamn bridge? I sure do.

You see, the world seems to be more stupid than before

[QUOTE=Xenomoose;16010643]dude, if you're going to participate in the annual Sarcasm BBQ, you'll need a new grill. this one stinks. EDIT: speaking of stenches, I smell incoming Dumb Ratings...[/QUOTE] ya you're right, that was pretty terrible.

Holy shit I feel bad for that guy. Twenty years down the drain.. fuckin' kids. Though I have to admit this would be the definition of 'owned' if they knew what they were doing. Sadly they were just stupid and an innocent man payed for that. May Jesus shower him with love in the afterlife amen

Wow. I feel bad. I laughed really hard.