WENATCHEE -- "Witch Hunt," the first book about this city's child-sex-ring investigations to hit bookstores, has drawn mixed reviews from the accused and the accusers in the controversial case.
The 470-page paperback, released last week, was written by Olympia lawyer Kathryn Lyon. The former Pierce County deputy prosecutor also wrote "The Wenatchee Report," which in 1996 took a critical look at tactics used in the 1994-1995 investigations that led to the arrests of more than two dozen people on child-sex-abuse charges.
Lyon's new book was characterized as "very accurate" by former sex-rings defendant Roby Roberson, an East Wenatchee pastor acquitted of child-rape charges in the case.
"Nobody knows the cases better than I do. She did an outstanding job. Nothing there embellished and nothing there was written out of context."
Roberson said this is the first of what likely will be many books detailing the investigations.
"Kathy's book is good, but I can tell you it goes far deeper," he said.
Attorney Pat McMahon -- who is representing Wenatchee police detective Bob Perez, the principal investigator, in civil lawsuits stemming from the cases -- said he has no plans to read the book.
"I read factual novels, biographies and autobiographies. And I don't waste my time reading unadulterated fiction," McMahon said.
"The design clearly is to put in propaganda for the cases as Kathryn Lyon sees it, but her book is fiction," McMahon said. "She tells half-truths and never presents the full story."
Lyon, en route to Wenatchee on Thursday afternoon, was not immediately available for comment.
Her book criticizes Perez and the state agency Child Protective Services for their roles in the case. The cover blurb characterizes the sex-ring investigation as "one of the most blatant cases of misuse of power and miscarried justice since the (Joe) McCarthy witch hunts" of the 1950s.
During the investigation, more than 50 children were interviewed about possible abuse. Fourteen people pleaded guilty to charges of child rape or molestation, and five were convicted on similar charges. Charges were dismissed or greatly reduced against six people, and three were acquitted.
But many of the adults subsequently recanted their confessions and a number of young alleged victims recanted their statements -- all claiming they had been bullied by Perez.
Spokane book wholesaler Benjamin News is distributing 1,300 copies of "Witch Hunt" to book and magazine racks around Washington, Idaho and Montana, said Brad Servatius, the company's book-operations manager.
Former Chelan-Douglas County Superior Court Judge Carol Wardell, who presided over many of the sex-abuse cases, said she also has no plans to read Lyon's book. "I don't want to read it. It's going to be full of untruths," Wardell said. "I know what happened in those cases."
Connie Fry of the Concerned Citizens for Legal Accountability, a group that contends the investigations were flawed, recommended the book to Wenatchee residents.
Jim McDonald -- insurance-services manager for the Association of Washington Cities, which is paying for much of the city's legal defense in civil cases stemming from the prosecutions -- said he is aware of the book.
Lyon didn't have access to prosecutors who might have balanced her account, McDonald said.
