Wenatchee Revisited

After three years in Washington State prisons, Carol and Mark Doggett are starting their lives over.

"I know it's been ten times harder on him than it has been on me," says Carol. "I cared about my kids more than anybody. And then all of a sudden they were all gone."

Reunited in their hometown of Wenatchee, Washington, Mark and Carol must now fight to reunite their family.

48 Hours first visited the Doggetts in 1995, when they were found guilty of sexually abusing their youngest daughter. Two of their own children testified against them.

"We have no reason to feel remorse because we did nothing wrong," Carol said.

The Doggetts weren't alone in Wenatchee, where investigators believed they had uncovered a child sex abuse ring. Starting in 1994, over a two-year period, 43 people there were accused of child sexual abuse. Twenty-one were convicted.

The lead detective in these cases was Robert Perez. Four years later, the detective now faces accusations. Last December, a court of appeals overturned the Doggetts' conviction and cited possible misconduct by Perez and other officials in their questioning of children: questioning that may have led to false accusations.

"After about an hour and a half, I broke down and I started telling them what they wanted to hear," says Mark and Carol's son John, who was just 14 when he was questioned by Perez four years ago. "I told them that there had been sexual abuse."

When asked why he felt compelled to lie to investigators, John claims he was merely submitting to a relentless series of questions. "I felt that they would not leave us alone, they would not leave me alone, I would never leave that room until I told them what they wanted to hear," says John.

"They need to come to the realization that what they did was wrong and abusive to the kids," says Carol. "Then healing can really start for the community."

Questions regarding Perez's methods continue to mount. Two other convictions were overturned as courts found that improper interviewing techniques by Perez and others may have pressured children into accusing their parents.

The two oldest Doggett children are now adults, but three daughters remain in foster care.

"We're actually taking it one step at a time," says Carol. "We want to integrate ourselves back into our children's lives very carefully. It's been a long time. They don't even know us anymore."

Even though their convictions have een overturned, their youngest daughter still maintains she was abused. It is up to the state to decide when and if their daughters can come home.

For now, they hold on to the memories they have, and treasure the company of their two adult children, Sam and John.

"I would give anything to change it, to go back to how we were before. I would give my own life to have our family back again," says John.