Woman: Abuse of son forced 15-year run

Associated Press

YAKIMA — On Nov. 1, 1986, Nancy Searing and her 4-year-old son left their home in Eugene, Ore., taking with them only a typewriter, some legal papers and the clothes on their backs.

They would be fugitives for nearly 15 years — living for a couple of weeks in a battered women’s shelter and then fleeing to Hawaii, Cuba and finally Australia — until her son, Jason, turned 18.

Searing, 48, is on trial in Yakima County Superior Court for first-degree custodial interference, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

On Wednesday, she began to tell the story of why she fled with her little boy and where they were until she surrendered a few months ago to face the felony charge.

"I had to choose between my son and all the things I had considered important in life," Searing testified.

When he was about 3 years old, Jason told his mother — in a preschooler’s words — that his father, Scott Searing, now of Richland, had molested him and physically abused him. A social worker for the state of Oregon found the allegations had merit, but the case was dismissed.

Scott Searing denied ever abusing his son when he appeared in court on Tuesday, and back in 1986, during the couple’s divorce trial, a Yakima County judge also concluded there was no evidence of abuse.

The judge told Nancy Searing if she came forward with any such allegations in the future, he would not hesitate to give custody of Jason to his father. He ordered her to seek counseling.

When Jason balked in October 1986 at the prospect of an upcoming two-week vacation with his father, a babysitter called the Eugene Police Department. Patrolman Richard Sattler answered the call.

Sattler, now retired, testified Wednesday that in his 22 years on the force, it was the worst case of child sexual abuse he had ever investigated and he believed Jason was in imminent danger.

"I told her, if it was my child, I would not let Jason go on that visitation until the courts had resolved the situation," Sattler said.

About the same time, Sister Margaret Murphy, a Dominican nun from Tacoma who was working with a Springfield, Ore., Catholic church then, also visited Nancy Searing, tipped off to the family’s problems by a parishioner.

"I did advise her to take the steps she needed to protect her child," Murphy testified.

Nancy and Jason Searing went to a shelter believing they would be there just a few days. But when the matter was not resolved by the courts, the shelter staff told Nancy Searing she needed to "move on," she testified.

They moved to Hawaii, where Jason saw a therapist several times a week for several months. The therapist concluded that Jason had been sexually and physically abused, Searing said.

"His best advice to me was to take my son where he could grow up as a normal little boy," Searing said.

By the time Jason was in fourth grade, they had made it to Australia, aided in their efforts to leave Cuba by U.S. officials, Searing said. Jason graduated from high school in Australia before they returned to the United States earlier this year.

"He’s an excellent baseball player," Nancy Searing said. "He’s done all those things that kids should be allowed to do."