The Seattle Times
March 24, 2006
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002885771_dige24m.html
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| Rachel Corrie was killed in the Gaza Strip. |
Seattle
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been accused in a lawsuit of persuading a 12-year-old boy not to cooperate with authorities after he reported that a Mormon priest sexually abused him.
The suit claims the priest, who also was a Boy Scout Scoutmaster, victimized the boy around 1981 to 1983.
The suit further claims the boy, who also belonged to the church, told his mother about the abuse, which she reported to church and civil authorities around 1984. But, the suit alleges, church officials pressured the boy not to cooperate, telling him he would not be believed.
The boy gave in to the pressure, the suit says, and criminal charges against the man were not filed. He moved to another state and molested other children, according to the suit. He could not be reached for comment.
The church in Seattle first learned of the allegations in 2003, when the accuser came forward, said Kim Farah, a church spokeswoman. The church has paid for his counseling and excommunicated the accused man, she said.
Farah denied that church leaders pressured the boy to not cooperate.
Skyway
Seattle man arrested in child rapes
King County sheriff's detectives have arrested a 43-year-old Seattle man on suspicion of child rape, accusing him of molesting at least five young girls.
In June 2005, the man's then-girlfriend, who lives in Skyway, called 911 to report that he had been molesting her 7-year-old daughter, prompting an investigation, said sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart. "The investigation found additional victims of various ages," he said.
Urquhart couldn't say what kind of relationship the man, who works in private security, had with the other victims.
The man is being held without bail in the King County Jail on suspicion of 10 counts of child rape, jail records show.
Seattle
Family appeals in bulldozer death
The parents of a 23-year-old who was killed trying to prevent the demolition of an occupied Palestinian home have appealed a judge's decision to dismiss their lawsuit against Caterpillar, the company that made the bulldozer that ran over her.
Rachel Corrie, a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, was killed three years ago by an Israeli soldier driving a bulldozer. She was trying to stop him from demolishing a Gaza Strip home while the family was inside.
Her parents sued Caterpillar on the grounds that for years, the company has provided bulldozers to the Israeli army, knowing they would be used to destroy civilian homes in violation of international law. They were joined in the lawsuit by five Palestinians.
In November, U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess in Tacoma threw out the lawsuit, agreeing with Caterpillar that it wasn't responsible for what the Israeli army did with its legally sold product.
In the appeal, filed Monday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Corries' lawyers argue that the judge missed the point.
Arlington
Fire victim ID'd; space heater blamed
The woman who died in a house fire near Arlington on Sunday afternoon was identified Thursday as Dolores Purdy, 81. The Snohomish County Fire Marshall said Thursday that a space heater likely caused the accidental blaze.
Purdy died of smoke inhalation, according to the county medical examiner's office.
The space heater was functioning normally, but it was surrounded by trash, such as newspapers and catalogs, said Tom Foster, Snohomish County deputy fire marshal.
There was no smoke detector in the home, which was in the 1000 block of 200th Street Northeast, Foster said. The home was a total loss, he said.
Silverdale, Kitsap County
Boy, 14, arrested in teen's shooting
Kitsap County Sheriff's detectives arrested a 14-year-old Silverdale boy Wednesday night on suspicion of assault and reckless endangerment in a shooting last week that critically injured another teen.
Investigators first thought the March 16 shooting was an accident but later determined the teen intentionally pointed his father's semi-automatic handgun at at least three friends in a second-floor bedroom of his house before the shooting, said sheriff's spokesman Scott Wilson. Two teens left the home before another 14-year-boy was shot in the abdomen, he said.
The injured youth underwent surgery at Tacoma's Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Health Center, where he continues to recover, Wilson said.
Clark County
Dairy fined in E. coli outbreak
An unlicensed dairy operation that was the source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened at least 18 people late last year will be fined $8,000, the state Department of Agriculture announced Thursday.
Raw, unpasteurized milk from Dee Creek Farm in Woodland, near Vancouver, Wash., sickened at least 18 people in southwestern Washington and northern Oregon in December. Three children were admitted to local intensive-care units.
According to the state's report, none of the farm's five cows had the required tests that certify the animals to be free of tuberculosis or brucellosis. The farm also had purchased a cow in Oregon and transported it into Washington without the proper animal-inspection certificates.
"These E. coli illnesses were the result of disregard for the law and poor sanitation practices," said Claudia Coles, the state Agriculture Department's food-safety officer.
Now that the state has issued a notice of intent to assess a civil penalty, the farm can request a hearing before an administrative-law judge to contest the investigative findings and the penalty.
A message left at Dee Creek Farm on Thursday was not returned.
The farm has been under a cease-and-desist order since the outbreak and not allowed to distribute milk products.
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