SEATTLE – A Redmond man has been sentenced in Seattle to four years in prison for sexually abusing his foster daughter.
The King County prosecutor’s office says 53-year-old Enrique Fabregas acknowledged in May with an Alford plea that he would be found guilty of sexual exploitation of a minor and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
The victim, 20-year-old Estera Tamas, asked the judge to give Fabregas the highest possible sentence. She says he introduced her to drugs and alcohol. She says she has flashbacks of sexual and physical abuse. Two other foster daughters told the court they were abused and humiliated.
The children are suing the state for $45 million, saying the Department of Social and Health Services ignored more than two dozen complaints about Febregas.
Associated Press
Seattle: Senator says VA hospitals improving
Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals are making progress on minimizing suicide risks at psychiatric wards in Seattle and Tacoma, Sen. Patty Murray says.
Murray, D-Wash., toured the Seattle VA hospital on Monday, about two months after flying from Washington, D.C., to her home state to personally check on reports that hospital conditions posed a danger to some patients’ lives.
She said VA officials assured her work was under way to remove shower heads, handrails and other fixtures that hospital standards inspectors had cited as suicide dangers.
Robin Cook, the quality improvement director for VA Puget Sound Health Care System, said a psych ward at the American Lake hospital in the Tacoma area had been closed to make way for the most serious renovations. The repair team is scheduled to move to Seattle next for similar fixes, Cook said.
Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, also said the attitude of VA officials had improved since her last visit in June.
Associated Press
Ephrata: Fire damages home, threatens more
A 550-acre wildfire damaged one home and threatened four others in central Washington on Monday as firefighters worked to douse the blaze.
A citizen reported the fire shortly after noon Monday along Sagebrush Flats Road, roughly 1 1/2 miles west of the city of Ephrata, about 40 miles east of Wenatchee, according to San Lorenz, director of Grant County Emergency Management.
The fire caused structural damage to one house, and firefighters were working to protect four others, as well as the county’s communications towers in the area, Lorenz said.
To the southeast, a nearly 350-acre wildfire was charring sagebrush and wildlife habitat on the Hanford Reach National Monument.
Associated Press
Kennewick: Sleepy suspect found in home
Early Sunday morning a burglary suspect fell asleep on the job after he allegedly broke into a Kennewick home, pocketed some cash, then decided to take a snooze on the victim’s couch.
When the residents of the home woke up, they found the alleged burglar still snoozing.
Jack Casey Gunion, 21, of Richland, claimed he mistakenly walked in the front door of the home during the wee hours Sunday, thinking it was a friend’s place, Kennewick police reported.
However, police said the front door was locked.
It soon was discovered that Gunion actually gained entry to the home using a ladder to enter a second-story window above the attached garage, police said.
Police reports indicated the homeowners, who were not identified, were alerted to the home invasion by the odd behavior of their cat
Tri-City Herald
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