Former foster dad's arrest a relief to teen
Former foster dad's arrest a relief to teen
Man is suspected of abusing, molesting children in his care
June 10, 2006
CLAUDIA ROWE
For years, Ruth Tamas tried to sound the alarm, telling state social workers that her foster father was physically abusing her and sexually assaulting her older sister. They never believed her.
On Wednesday, however, Redmond police -- acting on a tip from the older girl -- arrested Enrique Fabregas, 52, at Overlake Christian Church, where he sings in the choir. In his home they found piles of child pornography and explicit videotapes, most of which depicted the children in his care, officers said.
He is now being held in King County Jail on $1 million bail on suspicion of child rape, child molestation and possession of child pornography. His lawyer says he denies the allegations.
For Tamas, 18, the arrest brought relief, along with disgust for state authorities who had ignored her complaints.
"All of them said I was lying," said the college-freshman-to-be, as she stood Friday outside a courtroom at the King County Jail where a judge ordered Fabregas held. "He belongs in jail until he rots. He ruined so many peoples' lives."
Child-welfare officials acknowledged receiving eight sexual abuse complaints against Fabregas between 2002, when the Tamas sisters were placed with him, and 2004, when they were removed. But none of the claims was sustained, mainly because the sisters repeatedly recanted, a state spokeswoman said.
Still, a "red flag" had gone up, and in 2004 investigators asked Fabregas, a waiter at several Eastside Italian restaurants, to undergo a sexual-deviancy evaluation. When he refused, they revoked his license and sent the sisters to new foster homes.
But a younger girl remained. Fabregas had adopted her as a baby after meeting her mother in drug treatment, and because she was not a ward of the state, nor the subject of any substantiated abuse allegations, officials had no grounds to take action, said Kathy Spears, spokeswoman at the Department of Social and Health Services. That child, now 12, has since told police about two incidents of sexual assault, according to court documents.
"Unless we have enough information to take to the court," Spears said, "it's really difficult for us to remove a biological or adopted child."
Generally, a drug-related criminal history such as Fabregas' would disqualify him as an adoptive or foster parent, but in 1998 Court Commissioner Jim Doerty ruled that he had completed enough treatment to earn a "certificate of rehabilitation."
Though she'd left Fabregas' home by 2004, Ruth Tamas, then 16, did not give up. She told adults that she'd seen a videotape of Fabregas having sex with her older sister, Estera.
The Seattle P-I normally does not name victims of sexual assault, but Estera has given permission.
Fabregas -- romantically involved with the girls' mother -- began dressing Estera, then 12, in lingerie and photographing her in sexually suggestive posses. Within a few years the fondling had progressed to intercourse, according to court documents.
"I am so relieved," Estera Tamas, now 19, said in an interview. "I feel like I'm finally getting justice for what was done to me."
Fabregas denies all the allegations, according to his lawyer, Douglas Holt.
"People should keep an open mind," Holt said. "There's another side to the story."
Apparently, many have known a very different Enrique Fabregas. He attended Overlake Christian Church and was the subject of about 20 letters of endorsement from teachers and other parents who praised him to child-welfare workers. Church officials said he'd had no involvement with youth programs.
"What we're concerned about is that he has been out in the community -- kind of like this dad that everyone likes," said Redmond police spokeswoman Stacey Holland. "So we're worried about neighborhoods he's been in."
P-I reporter Claudia Rowe can be reached at 206-448-8320 or claudiarowe@seattlepi.com.