Ex-foster daughters of abuser sue state

Ex-foster daughters of abuser sue state

January 11, 2008

By LEVI PULKKINEN

Three former foster daughters of convicted sex offender Enrique Fabregas filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing state agencies of hiding papers detailing sex crimes committed in the man's Redmond home.

Attorneys for Fabregas' former wards -- sisters Estera Tamas, 21, and Ruth Tamas, 19, and a 14-year-old girl, who is identified only as Monica in court documents -- say the state Attorney General's Office and the Department of Social and Health Services failed to turn over documents in an effort to derail another suit filed by the Tamas sisters and the girl.

"They've been stonewalled, they've been lied to, and now they're basically being punished for asking for their own records," said Marty McLean, one of the Seattle lawyers who filed the suit in King County Superior Court.

Officials with both state agencies dispute the former foster children's claims, asserting that all releasable documents were provided following their public records requests. They said other documents were redacted because of privacy concerns.

The Tamas sisters first requested the files from the state in July 2006, hoping for documents generated during the three years they lived with Fabregas. Monica, who lived with the man for nine years, filed a similar request five months later.

McLean said his clients assert that DSHS failed to protect them when it allowed Fabregas to take them in, and when the agency let him keep the girls through 28 separate complaints. The agency revoked Fabregas' license in 2004 for refusing a sexual-deviancy evaluation.

Fabregas was sentenced to four years in prison in August after pleading guilty to two sex crimes. Speaking at his sentencing, Estera Tamas said he used her and the other girls for his "sick, selfish pleasures."

Last April, the Tamas sisters and Monica filed a lawsuit against the state, seeking $45 million in damages for their time with Fabregas. McLean said they did so after being assured by state records managers that they'd received the complete DSHS files.

But the Attorney General's Office then produced additional documents in August as part of an effort to have the case thrown out, McLean said.

One of the files contained a report filed with DSHS indicating Fabregas had photographed himself receiving oral sex from a 9-year-old foster child. Another included a psychological profile of Fabregas that McLean says backs his clients' case.

Kristal Wiitala, manager of the DSHS public records section, insisted that, while mistakes may have been made, the state was not attempting a cover-up.

Often, Wiitala said, some records are withheld because of privacy concerns. Others may simply have been overlooked.

"We're just walking on this tightrope ... between privacy and public records," Wiitala said. "It could have been a mistake or because of these confidentiality laws."

Both agencies also now claim that they've released all pertinent documents to Fabregas' former daughters, either because of the records requests or through the legal process.

"We have reviewed the timeline and the documentation regarding (the) request, and in our estimation have provided everything requested," said Kristen Alexander, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office.

McLean called the state's confidentiality argument "outrageous," and said his clients each signed confidentiality waivers included in multiple requests for information. The state's second claim -- that all relevant documents have been released -- can't be proven without a review from a judge.

"We have no way of knowing that they've turned everything over," McLean said. "The only thing we know is that they told us we had everything in February 2007."

McLean said his clients are asking a judge to rule that documents are being withheld and levy fines against the state.

Attorneys for the agencies have not formally responded to the suit.

P-I reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com.