Fox Nation's new series ‘In the Valley of Sin’ examines the mid-90s witch hunt that pitted neighbor against neighbor in Wenatchee, Washington — the self-appointed 'Apple Capital of The World' — when police uncovered a monstrous child sex ring known among its membership as 'The Circle.' Local authorities alleged that dozens of children were raped in the bedrooms of their parents, in the homes of their neighbors, and at ritualized orgies on the altar of a church.
But there was one problem: none of it actually happened.
There had been no such sex ring --- a truth that only emerged after 43 parents were arrested and dozens of children were made wards of the state. The harrowing accusations were completely unfounded, leaving Wenatchee desperate for answers.
THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE FAKE SEX RING THAT CHANGED WENATCHEE FOREVER
Fox Nation host Nancy Grace sat down with one such family in Monday's episode of "Crime Stories," where they opened up about their personal experience living through a nightmare that changed their family forever.
In December 1994, Mark and Carol Doggett had been accused of raping one of their children after moving to Wenatchee and were each consequently sentenced to ten years in state prison. But it never actually happened, Grace observed. It was later discovered that the Doggett children had been bullied into accusing their parents of sexual assault by investigators. Both parents were eventually cleared of all charges.
Amber Doggett, a young child at the time of the police interrogation, told Grace in Fox Nation's new episode that she falsely confirmed the allegations because "It was very apparent to me that that was the only way I was going to get out of that room."
Amber's brother John Doggett expressed a similar sentiment.
NANCY GRACE SHEDS LIGHT ON DARK STORY OF ‘IN THE VALLEY OF SIN’
"It was such a foreign concept to me to be hurt in any way from my parents that I didn't even have the words to tell them [police] how stupid that idea was," he said. "They were asking me things, using terminology that I wasn't familiar with. I was really confused, really scared."
"It was such a foreign concept to me to be hurt in any way from my parents."
The man responsible for leading the investigation into ‘The Circle’ was detective Bob Perez, whose nine-year-old foster daughter, Donna Everett, allegedly told him that she had been sexually assaulted by her birth parents - making her a central force behind these claims. Donna's sister, Melinda, corroborated her claims of being victimized.
Later, these claims were revealed to be false --- putting Bob Perez at the center of a fake news scandal that rocked Wenatchee.
"I was scared," John said. "Bob Perez was a very intimidating officer."
Perez's warped investigation efforts resulted in forty-three parents incarcerated for 29,726 counts of sexual abuse, and many of their children being forced into the foster system. At the time, it was considered the largest sex ring in the history of America – one that never really happened.
Both Nancy Grace's "Crime Stories" and ‘In the Valley of Sin’ are now available on Fox Nation.
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Fox News' Laura Carrione and Caroline Joyce contributed to this report.
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