News Tribune Published: 11-14-95 STATE CHARGES 3 BOYS' RANCH OFFICIALS / GREGOIRE LAMENTS INABILITY TO PROSECUTE DSHS WORKERS, OTHERS Byline: Joseph Turner / The News Tribune OLYMPIA - Three people who ran the OK Boys' Ranch in Olympia were charged Monday with criminal mistreatment for letting boys in their care be beaten and raped.

However, no charges are expected against state workers who monitored the state-licensed group home, or against the home's board of directors or members of its parent organization, the Kiwanis Club of Olympia. Attorney General Christine Gregoire said she wanted to prosecute all three groups but didn't think she had enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. "There is no question the average person will conclude the board should have known about the deplorable conditions and put a stop to it," Gregoire said. "But even though a compelling case can be made for an absence of oversight, we concluded our current laws would not allow us to prove criminal accountability."

Facing charges in Thurston County Superior Court are: * Thomas Van Woerden, founder and director of the OK Boys' Ranch from 1971 until he was forced to resign in 1993. * Collette Queener, former assistant director who succeeded Van Woerden as director from 1993 to 1994. * Laura Rambo, longtime chief counselor at the group home. Queener is charged with 10 counts of criminal mistreatment, Van Woerden and Rambo with seven counts each. All charges stem from their alleged failure to protect boys as young as 10 and 11 from being physically and sexually assaulted by older boys at the ranch.

Prosecutors in court documents said all three knew of or even witnessed incidents of older boys preying on younger ones but did little to stop them. Prosecutors say Van Woerden shielded activities at the home from outside scrutiny and failed to follow through on his plans to correct its deficiencies. Prosecutors say Van Woerden was more interested in making money than looking out for the welfare of his wards. None of the three could be reached for comment. They remain free pending their arraignments Nov. 27. Criminal mistreatment is a felony with a maximum punishment of five years in prison. The standard sentence is about three years. It's possible none of the defendants, if convicted, would serve jail time because they have no criminal records.

The OK Boys' Ranch scandal came to light when Olympia police in July 1992 began investigating reports of a sex orgy there. State Department of Social and Health Services officials didn't closely examine conditions until 16 boys sued the state, claiming they were abused. They collected $4.3 million from the state and a comparable amount from the Kiwanis Club's insurance company last year. Another $12 million lawsuit by more boys and their parents is pending. The ranch was closed in September 1994.

Gov. Mike Lowry and the Thurston County prosecutor asked Gregoire's office to begin a criminal investigation a year ago. Six weeks earlier, DSHS Secretary Jean Soliz had ordered an internal probe of misconduct by state workers. But it later was aborted after investigators hired by DSHS accused Gregoire's staff of steering them away from questioning top-level DSHS officials and the ranch's board of directors. The State Patrol is investigating to find out why the OK Boys' Ranch continued to be relicensed by the state long after knowledge of its problems began to emerge.

In addition, the Legislature has scheduled hearings into the scandal in mid-December. Gregoire said her lawyers suspected group home operators stole money from the state - either by double-billing for services or collecting $2,000-a-month state payments for children who weren't actually there. But Gregoire said record keeping by the home was so shoddy and oversight by DSHS workers so disorganized that she didn't think she could make theft charges stick. The attorney general said about 20 DSHS workers, including the past three secretaries - Soliz, Paul Trause and Dick Thompson - were targets of the criminal investigation. "Deficiencies" in current law prevented her from charging any DSHS workers, she said. To be charged, DSHS workers would have had to have physical custody of the children, which they didn't. And they would have to have committed some overt act to indicate they promoted or tolerated the ongoing abuse, which couldn't be proved, she said.

The investigation uncovered 326 instances of abuse at the home between 1989 and 1994. Most involved older boys preying on younger ones, such as an "initiation" beating when new boys arrived at the facility. "Initiation fights, drug and alcohol use and regular sexual assaults were common, including instances of sexual victimization of 10- and 11-year-old boys by older, sexually aggressive residents," Gregoire said. Some staff members observed those beatings, the attorney general said, and more criminal charges could be forthcoming.

Gregoire said existing laws for criminal mistreatment and failure to report abuse should be changed to make it clear when DSHS caseworkers and managers must report their suspicions to law enforcement agencies. She also recommended DSHS have an independent licensing division to aggressively monitor complaints about care of children in foster and group homes and more funding to reduce the burden on caseworkers.

3 PLEAD NOT GUILTY TO CHARGES IN BOYS' R... 11-28-95 News Tribune Published: 11-28-95 3 PLEAD NOT GUILTY TO CHARGES IN BOYS' RANCH CASE Byline: Joseph Turner / The News Tribune OLYMPIA - Three operators of the OK Boys' Ranch pleaded not guilty to criminal mistreatment charges Monday, and their lawyers accused the state of scapegoating them for abuses at the home for troubled boys.

Thomas Van Woerden, Collette Queener and Laura Russell (formerly Laura Rambo) face a total of 24 felony charges alleging they failed to protect boys as young as 10 from physical and sexual assaults by older boys. Van Woerden's attorney, Jerry Buzzard, criticized the case, noting that Attorney General Christine Gregoire said she wanted to charge others but didn't.

"Clearly, she has jumped on some scapegoats here instead of going after higher-ups," Buzzard said. "Maybe they're friends of hers. I don't know." When charges were filed Nov. 13, Gregoire said her staff was unable to make a case against state workers who monitored the state-licensed home, or against the home's board of directors or members of its parent organization, the Kiwanis Club of Olympia. Gregoire said she didn't think she could prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

"The people who were charged at this point are the people against whom we have evidence, and laws under which to charge them," said senior assistant attorney general Greg Canova, head of the office's criminal division. "The attorney general's office has not let anyone off the hook, if you will, because they are friends of the attorney general."

Van Woerden, 54, Queener, 51, and Russell, 38, pleaded not guilty to all charges before Thurston County Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee. No trial date has been set, and it may be several months before the case is heard. Van Woerden, founder of the ranch and its director from 1971 to 1993, declined to comment on the charges. "I'd like to," he said. "But I can't." Queener was the ranch's assistant director and succeeded Woerden as director in 1993 and 1994. Russell, whose last name was Rambo before a recent marriage, was the longtime chief counselor. Through their lawyers, they also declined comment.

The state has agreed to pay at least $8.5 million to settle claims by 25 boys and their parents over inadequate supervision at the ranch. The OK Boys' Ranch scandal also has prompted lawmakers to convene special hearings next month and has fueled the call to dismantle the state Department of Social and Health Services. DSHS paid the OK Boys' Ranch about $250,000 a year to house as many as 13 boys at a time.

Abuses came to light in July 1992, when the Olympia Police Department was called in to investigate reports of two orgies involving residents at the ranch. Since then, some 326 instances of abuse between 1989 and 1994 have been documented, many of them occurring while ranch staff members stood by and watched, according to charging papers. The ranch was closed in 1994. Saxon Rodgers, Russell's lawyer, said he wanted the attorney general's office thrown off the case because of potential conflicts. For the past three years, the state has been defending DSHS employees and the ranch against lawsuits by victims, yet it now is prosecuting ranch employees, he said. Moreover, Gregoire and some of her lawyers may be called as witnesses, he said.

McPhee said he would preside over the case because other Thurston County judges had some connection to DSHS, the OK Boys' Ranch or the Kiwanis Club. McPhee noted former Thurston County Prosecutor Pat Sutherland excused himself from prosecuting the case because he had a conflict. Sutherland, who died last month, was a Kiwanis Club officer. Sutherland and later Gov. Mike Lowry asked the attorney general to conduct a criminal investigation of the ranch. The ranch board of directors also included a Thurston County judge and an assistant attorney general, Jeff Lane. Rodgers and Buzzard contended Sutherland didn't drop the case because of a conflict. "The Thurston County prosecutor investigated the case and decided not to file charges because there were none to file," Buzzard said.

Below is an e-mail I received from a former Olympia, Washington resident.

From: ~~~~~~~~@aol.com
To: Louis Bloom manaco@whidbey.net
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 11:34 AM
Subject: OKBR
Just came across your pages and felt the urge to respond... In the early 80's (81-83) I was at the OKBR frequently as a young kid walking to/from school, I became friends with some of the boys. At one point a small boy confided to me that he was being raped by another boy in the home. The abusing boy talked about it openly!
Days later I walked the victim to OPD where we both gave statements. Later that evening I began to receive these incredibly threatening phone calls from a woman employee of the ranch who's name I believe was Paulette at my home. She kept calling over and over screaming at me calling me names. It was horrible. I thought I was helping someone. Nothing came of it. Then all these years later, it all comes out ... one of the boys that I had known there left as a young adult and still couldn't get it together, he eventually killed himself. As an adult now I don't often think back to those times but it still saddens me. All those boys that needed a safe nurturing place to be, and how many of them were better off for having been taken there? It's not about money. It cost these boys their lives, their souls, their trust. Those people who knew, who didn't care, they should feel such shame. Just my opinion.

From: louis a bloom manaco@whidbey.net
To: ~~~~~~~@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: OKBR
thanks for your e-mail. from what i've read, dshs, the olympia police department, and other "authorities" didn't consider child on child rape to be against the law. it was considered "normal experimentation". The "paulette" you mention, may have been Collette Queener who was an assistant director at the OKBR. Collette, OKBR Director Tom Van Woerdan, and OKBR counselor Laura Rambo Russell were ineptly charged by Wa. St. with "criminal mistreatment for failing to stop abuse". The charges were dismissed by Thurston County Judge Daniel Berschauer on technicalities. The lawyer who represented Collette Queener said, (Nov. 14, 1996 Olympian), that it was a "witch hunt", and that " a more innocent person (than Queener) you could not have for a client. She's an ex-nun ..... I don't see how you could view her in an evil or negative light."
I congratulate you for doing the right thing, when all those adults looked the other way. I repeat on most pages that the " OKBR has cost the Washington State taxpayers over $35 million dollars (so far)", because I think most people don't care about the kids involved, but they may care that it has cost them (taxpayers) money.
louis bloom

manaco@whidbey.net