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Redmond foster father pleads guilty to sexual exploitation

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Redmond foster father pleads guilty to sexual exploitation

May 14, 2007

KOMO-TV STAFF

A Redmond man pleaded guilty Monday morning to sexual exploitation of a minor and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.

Prosecutors will recommend that Enrique Fabregas be sentenced to 48 months in prison and be required to register as a sex offender when released. The pleas are a result of allegations brought by a teenage child in his care.

A state report released last year showed police detectives say was Fabregas' long history of abuse.

The report detailed years of complaints, concerns and warnings that the foster father was abusing and neglecting an adopted daughter and two foster daughters.

Sue Lewis is a foster mother who alerted the state.

Her complaint was that there was a videotape showing Fabregas in a sex act with a foster daughter.

"We were told by the intake person that the children would be removed that night," Lewis says. "They weren't. They weren't removed for months."

Ester Tamas is the oldest of the three girls. In June when Fabregas was arrested, she told us, "He was making me take photos, like nude photos and he was raping me and giving me drugs."

In January the three children filed a $45 million civil claim against the state, saying officials overlooked years of physical and sexual abuse complaints while improperly licensing Fabregas.

In their civil claims, two young women and a teenage girl say Enrique Fabregas was improperly granted a state foster care license in 1997 after lying about his criminal convictions and drug use.

During the next nine years, they say Fabregas sexually and physically abused the girls despite nearly 30 complaints to the state Department of Social and Health Services. Their lawyer said many of those complaints also were not passed on to police.

"For years, Fabregas continued to lie on his applications while DSHS continued to overlook the mounting evidence of abuse and neglect," the complaint said.

Estera Tamas, 20, is seeking at least $15 million for her claims of physical and sexual abuse. Her sister Ruth Tamas, 18, is seeking at least $10 million. Ruth contends she was physically abused by Fabregas, but not sexually abused. Both Tamas sisters say they were abused for about three years.

The third girl, now 13, is seeking at least $20 million for nine years of alleged physical and sexual abuse. Fabregas was at first the youngest girl's foster father but later adopted her.

Fabregas is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29.

2007 May 14