The Olympia Washington Kiwanis members and their friends have cost the Washington State taxpayers over $50 million dollars (so far), because of their willful ignorance of long term, merciless and well known, child abuse that occurred at the Olympia Kiwanis Boys Ranch.

October 2006 note: This Olympia Kiwanis stuff is old news. I've left this information on the web, because I like the thought that someone will say to one of these Kiwanis friends or members: "Grandma, (Grandpa), are you still friends with those Olympia Kiwanians?"

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Back to the beginning Gary Tabor Page

  --part 2----part 3----part 4--
   BE IT REMEMBERED that on Wednesday, September 14, 1994, at 10:44 a.m. at 910 Lakeridge Way S.W., Olympia, Washington, before DIXIE J. CATTELL, Notary Public in-and for the State of Washington, appeared GARY TABOR, the witness herein;
WHEREUPON, the following proceedings were had, to--wit: GARY TABOR, having been first duly sworn by the Notary, testified as follows:
     EXAMINATION BY MR. PAUL:
    Q Mr. Tabor, you're under oath. Is that understood?
    A  Yes.
    Q What does that mean?
    MR. HANSEN: Object to the form of question. Mr. Tabor is a licensed attorney, Counsel. Would you get on with the proceedings, please.
    MR. PAUL: Go ahead and answer.
    A That I've sworn to tell the truth.
    Q (By Mr. Paul) Have you ever had your deposition taken before?
    A Yes, I have.
    Q In what proceedings?   (Mr Kelley leaves room)
    A A number of different proceedings. The latest was State vs. Rupe, which is a death penalty case in habeas corpus in the federal courts, and I was deposed in that, and I also offered testimony there.
    Q Have you been deposed in any civil matters?
    A I don't believe so.
    Q Are you represented by a lawyer today?
    A No, I'm not.
    (Mr. Kelley re-enters room)
    Q In a deposition, it's important that you understand what the question is and answer out loud. There's a couple reasons for that. The reason you have to answer out loud is because our court reporter, Dixie Cattell, can't take down when you nod your head or when you shake your head.. Is that understood?
    A I think I understand that, yes.
    Q Also, Mr. Tabor, if you don't understand my question, let me know, and I'll rephrase it. Is that understood?
    A I understood or understand that as well. (Mr. Kelley leaves room)
Q What job do you hold, sir?
    A My job title is Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting, Attorney, Thurston County.
    Q How long have  you had that, sir?
    A I've been the Chief Criminal Deputy since 1983.
    Q What year did you become a lawyer?
    A 1978.
    Q Have you reviewed any documents prior to the deposition today?
    A Yes.
    Q What documents have you reviewed?
    A A letter from the Olympia Police Department that actually, I guess, from the Olympia City Prosecutor, Reiko Cushman.
    Q And--
    A A letter that I sent to the Olympia Police Department following that and requesting formal referral of the case, if they chose to do so, and also some additional investigation. A copy of the cover report by Nancy Gassett about sexual abuse by juveniles, juvenile offenders or suspects. A copy - a cover report by Darrell Noble about alleged failure to report the knowledge of sexual abuse-on the part of three people at the O.K. Boys Ranch, three employees, and a rejection letter or memo that I sent to the Olympia Police declining to file charges in the matter.
Q Okay. Is that the end of your answer?
    A Yes.
    Q I just don't- want to run over you.
    A Yes, that's it.
    Q I might ask you that, because I can't always tell when you finish.
    A Okay.
    Q In your capacity as Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, if I've got that right, do you have any protocols or procedures for referring a criminal prosecution from your jurisdiction to that of another in certain events such a conflict of interest or a lawyer being a witness, something like that?
    A We approach that on a case-by-case basis, and there have been occasions when we've referred matters to other prosecutors, offices or other individuals as special prosecutors.
    Q As far as you know, are there any written protocols that would apply?
    A No.
    Q Have you ever investigated to determine whether any written protocols would apply?
    A I don't understand the question.
    Q Okay. Is it your testimony that no written protocols apply or is it that you haven't investigated whether---
    A When you say "apply," that is the part I don't understand. By "apply," do you mean are there, written protocols in our office or should there be?
    Q Are there any written protocols -
    A There are none.
    Q Are there any written protocols in prosecutors' offices other than your own of which you're aware?
    A I have no knowledge of that, whether there are or not.
    Q I've never been a prosecutor. Do the disciplinary rules of procedure, the . . .
    A I think to answer your question, that a prosecutor's vested with a broad range of discretion. It's the prosecutor who's elected and his delegees who are to determine what actions are taken in a particular case.
    Q Well, that's for sure. Do the RPCs, the Rules of Professional Conduct, apply to prosecutors?
    A Surely.
    Q Those rules apply to all lawyers in Washington; is that correct?
    A Yes.
    Q You indicated that you or your office in the past had referred cases to other jurisdictions for prosecutions. Under what circumstances, generally, would that arise?
    A Where there was an apparent conflict based on association  is the most common situation.
    Q What sort of association are you referring to?
    A Oh, for instance, the -----  person ----- was accused of sexually- abusing ---- and we asked a special prosecutor, who happened to be the prosecutor in Clark County, Art Curtis, to handle that matter.
    Q In addition to referring to another county, have you ever referred to a city within the county of Thurston for prosecution?
    A Yes. Quite often, and that's not asking for a special prosecutor. Quite often a case would be referred as a potential felony, and, after review, we believe that it would be a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, thus within the jurisdiction of the City, for instance, the City of Lacey or the City of Olympia or the City of Tumwater. And a case might be returned to the police department with the indication that they might wish to forward that to their municipal prosecutor.
    Q And that's a jurisdictional issue?
    A Well, the County Prosecutor's Office would have concurrent jurisdiction, but it's our policy that if a matter falls within the jurisdiction of municipal court, we'll forward the case to them rather than handle it ourself.
    Q Has the City of Olympia Prosecutor's Office ever been referred cases from the Thurston County Prosecutor's Office?
    A Well as I indicated, think- indirectly, yes, but what we do is we send the police department back the report saying that we're not going to prosecute and that it appears that it might be appropriate for them to send it to their municipal prosecutor, and it's their choice, but that happens regularly.
    Q Have cases within Thurston County jurisdiction been prosecuted by members of the City of Olympia's Prosecutor's Office?
    A Yes. I believe there have been a couple occasions when one of the prosecutors at the City of Olympia has been asked to be a special deputy.     Q Who are the people involved - who were the people from the City who have been asked to serve as special deputy?
    A Lee Creighton has been asked on one occasion, although I don't recall the specific name of the case right now. Reiko Cushman has been asked on several occasions. And I believe, if you want a specific on Reiko Cushman, I believe that it was an assault case.
    Q So she wasn't just asked, but she also served in the capacity as special deputy?
    A Yes.
    Q On more than one occasion or just the assault case, as far  as you know, sir?
    A There's one other case. She served as a special prosecutor on a juvenile case as an appellate prosecutor.
    Q Did you work with Reiko Cushnan?
     A Yes, she was part of our office, at one point serving in our Juvenile Section. At that time I was the supervisor of the  Criminal Division, including the Juvenile Section.
    Q So did you directly supervise Reiko Cushman?
    A Not directly. There was another deputy that would have been her immediate supervisor, and I would have been his supervisor.
    Q So you were two steps above Reiko Cushman in the chain of command?
    A Yes.
      Q Did you have occasion to observe her abilities as  prosecutor?
    A Yes.
    Q How would you rate her abilities as a prosecutor?
    A She was an excellent prosecutor.
    Q Did anyone do written evaluations of her--
    A Yes.
    Q ---work? Were you involved in that process?
    A I saw the ratings and ultimately discussed them with Mr. Sutherland. We have a rating system called a Management Technical Pay System, which is a yearly evaluation.
    Q How did Reiko Cushman's ratings stack up against, that system?
    A  Above average.
    Q Let me pass you what we will shortly mark as Exhibit 1.
    (Deposition Exhibit No. I marked for identification)
    Q (By Mr. Paul) I'm going to hold off on asking a question about this for a second.  Are you a member of the Kiwanis Club of North Thurston?
    A I am.
    Q And when did you so join?
    A I don't recall the exact date. Probably about '86.
    Q Are you active in the club affairs?
    A I attend regularly. The meetings are on Tuesday mornings at 7 a.m.
    Q Do you serve in any leadership position: vice-president, secretary, et cetera?
    A No, I do not.
    Q Are you acquainted with Tom VanWoerden?
    A Not personally, no.
    Q Professionally?
    A Not professionally either, other than knowing who he is.     Q Have you met - I mean, have you met him? Are you acquainted with him?
    A I don't believe that I've ever met him face to face. I may have talked with him on the phone once. In fact, I did talk with him on the phone once. And  that's all I recall, the only time I recall talking to him.
    Q When approximately was that?
    A That would have been in late 1992 during the course of this investigation.
    Q Were there any police officers present?
    A No.
    Q Do you typically involve yourself in the investigation of potential criminal charges, or do you typically delegate it to the police, or is there some combination?
    A We rely upon the police to do investigation; however, we often talk with the police about what direction an investigation should take.
    Q Do you generally talk to suspects about investigations while they're pending?
    A No.
    Q Did you talk to Mr. VanWoerden about this case during the time it was pending?
    A Well, I did not discuss with him the facts or any  substance of the case. The phone call was initiated by  Mr. VanWoerden to me, and it was for the purpose of  telling me that I had his permission to release.police reports to the O.K. Boys Ranch Board.
      Q Do you remember about what month that was?
    A It would have been between the months of September and December. I would think probably, the  time period would have been October, but I cannot be certain.
    Q Was anyone else part of this conversation --
    A No.
    Q -- even if it was on the phone?
    A No, I don't believe there was anyone else listening.
    Q How long did you talk to Mr. VanWoerden?
    A Probably less than a minute.
    Q Did he have - was it required that he give you permission to release-reports? Is that something that you felt you needed his permission to do?
    A Yes.
      Q How was it that he knew you were interested in getting his permission?
    A I'm not sure how he knew that. There had been a discussion by - and I don't recall the lady's name - the  head of the O.K. Boys Ranch Board. She met with  Mr. Sutherland and myself and the president of the Olympia Kiwanis, Mr. Van Schoorl, at some point after we received  the letter from Ms. Cushman in September. At that time they asked if they could have a copy of the police reports. We indicated that it was an ongoing investigation and we could not provide the reports unless the suspects agreed. And it was following that conversation that Mr. VanWoerden called me.
    Q Okay. At that meeting present was Ms. Skinner, you, indicated; is that right?
    A I didn't recall her name.
    Q Do you think it was Jane Skinner?
    A I think that's probably who it was, yes.
    Q And could you kindly repeat who else was there?
    A Robert or Bob Van Schoorl, who was the president of Kiwanis; Mr. Sutherland and myself.
    Q As far as you know, did Mr. Van Schoorl have any leadership position on the O.K. Boys Ranch Committee of Kiwanis?
    A I don't think so.
    Q What was the purpose of the meeting with Ms. Skinner, Mr. Van Schoorl, Mr. Sutherland, and yourself?
    A As I indicated, they asked if they could have copies of the reports.
    Q How long did this meeting last?
    A Probably half an hour.
    Q Other than asking you for copies of the reports during  this half-hour meeting, did they ask you for anything  else?
    A Not that I recall.
    Q Did it take them a half hour.to ask for the report?
    A No, I don't think it did.
    Q But you can't recall anything else that was discussed?
    A Well, you didn't ask me if i could recall anything else. You asked me if they asked me for anything else, and I said I didn't recall that.
    Q Okay, Mr. Tabor. That's fine. What else was discussed?
    A I think that we made some small talk early on. There was some type of introduction in that they understood that there was an investigation, and they wanted to know if we could provide them details of that, and we indicated that we could not discuss the matter in any specific detail. I believe that we did indicate to them that there were allegations of sexual abuse and that those matters either were being or had been handled in Juvenile Court and that there were also some concerns about members of the staff of the O.K. Boys Ranch failing to report suspected or known abuse as required by the statute and that there was an investigation proceeding in that particular matter.
    Q Did you talk about any of the facts of this investigation with the people who were at this half-hour meeting?
    A When you say this particular investigation, I believe that we did indicate that, as to the sexual abuse, that there were young men that were residents alleged to have been having sex with other residents, other young men. If you're asking about the failure to report, I don't believe we discussed any specifics.
    Q Would you consider Mr. Van Schoorl to be a  potential  witness in this case, the failure-to-report portion of the case?
    A No.
    Q Was he on the board of Kiwanis Club of Olympia?
    A I believe he was the president of the Kiwanis Club of Olympia at the time.
    Q And in that capacity, would he be part of the corporation that was licensed to do business as O.K. Boys Ranch?
    A I would think - well, I'm not sure whether he would or not. I don't really know how they're organized.
      Q And in his capacity as president of the corporation whose committee is licensed to do business as O.K. Boys Ranch, would he not have access to periodic reports from the O.K. Boys Ranch?
    A Again, I don't know whether that's the case or not, whether - all I know is that he's the president of Kiwanis. I don't know what the association is between Kiwanis and O.K. Boys Ranch.
    Q Assume for the purpose of this question, sir, that  Mr. Van Schoorl had access to periodic reports and, in fact, received periodic reports concerning the running of the O.K. Boys Ranch, in his capacity as president of Kiwanis, would that make him a witness or potential witness?
    MR HANSEN: Object to the form of the question.
    MR. PAUL: Go ahead.
    A I don't know whether it would or not. I'd have to look at the individual circumstances. Your question earlier is: Did I consider him a potential witness? And I did not.
    Q (By Mr. Paul) Did you conduct any investigation whatsoever to determine if he could be a witness at the time you spoke with him?
    A I don't - as I say, I don't normally conduct investigations and did not in this case. The Olympia Police did, and I don't recall Mr. Van Schoorl's name coming up in any  investigation by the Olympia Police in any way.
     Q At the time you had this half-hour meeting, did you make  any attempt to discern what the relationship was between Olympia Kiwanis Club and the O.K. Boys Ranch?
    A No.
    Q Why not?
    A It wasn't something I was concerned about.
    Q Let me pass you what we'll mark as Exhibit 2 for your deposition.
    (Deposition Exhibit No. 2 marked for identification)
--part 2----part 3----part 4--

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

There were many obvious and long-term warnings about the 1970-94 child abusing Olympia Kiwanis Boys Ranch.