Children: Father didn't abuse us: Ex-Vancouver police officer spent nearly 20 years in prison

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The two adult children of former Vancouver police officer Clyde Ray Spencer, who spent nearly 20 years in prison after being convicted of molesting them, testified in court Friday the abuse never happened.

By Stephanie Rice

The Columbian

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The two adult children of former Vancouver police Officer Clyde Ray Spencer, who spent nearly 20 years in prison after being convicted of molesting them, testified in court Friday that the abuse never happened.

A 33-year-old son recalled how, at age 9, he was repeatedly questioned, alone, by now-retired Detective Sharon Krause, of the Clark County Sheriff's Office. He said that after months of questioning, he said he had been abused just to get Krause to leave him alone.

A 30-year-old daughter said she doesn't remember what she told Krause at age 5, but recalled Krause bought her ice cream.

The brother and sister, who live in Sacramento, Calif., said that while growing up in California they were told by their mother, who divorced Spencer before he was charged, that they were blocking out the memory of the abuse.

They said they realized as adults the abuse had never happened.

The fallout from Friday's hearing won't be known for months, after appellate judges weigh in. But the hearing does pave the way for the state Court of Appeals to allow Spencer to withdraw the no-contest pleas he entered in 1985 and have his convictions vacated.

After Matthew Spencer and Kathryn Tetz each took a turn on the witness stand, Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis said their testimony followed the written declarations they filed with the Court of Appeals.

Written declarations

Since the appellate court doesn't take live testimony from witnesses, Lewis was ordered to listen to the siblings testify and see whether they stuck by their written declarations, even under cross-examination by a prosecuting attorney.

They did, Lewis said.

Spencer, 61, who goes by Ray, hugged his son and daughter after the hearing while a dozen supporters cheered.

In 1985, Spencer was also convicted of abusing a 4-year-old stepson, who was not at Friday's hearing.

An ex-Vancouver police officer who served nearly 20 years in prison for molesting his children before he was freed in light of considerable evidence of a flawed investigation will return to the Clark County Courthouse on Friday.

Clyde Ray Spencer, who has been living in King County since his 2004 release from prison, will be asking to withdraw the no-contest pleas he entered in 1985.

His two grown children will testify, according to written declarations filed with the state Court of Appeals, that they were never abused by their father and felt pressured by a detective to say otherwise.

If Spencer is allowed to withdraw his pleas, which count legally as guilty pleas, prosecutors would have to go to trial to win a new conviction or dismiss the charges.

Spencer, now 61, was convicted of molesting his son and daughter, as well as a 4-year-old stepson. The stepson, as an adult, has been unwilling to cooperate.

The older children, however, say the 4-year-old was never abused. According to the allegations, the children were together when they were supposedly abused.

Spencer was sentenced to two life terms plus 14 years.

When then-Gov. Gary Locke commuted Spencer's sentence on Dec. 23, 2004, he cited several "troubling aspects" with the case.

Among them: A supervising detective from the Clark County Sheriff's Office had an affair with Spencer's wife, the mother of the 4-year-old; detectives withheld medical exams that found no evidence of the supposed repeated, vicious attacks; and Spencer's 9-year-old son denied the molestation for eight months, changing his story only after pressure from a detective.

Spencer was fired from the Vancouver Police Department on Jan. 5, 1985, while charges were pending.

After months of questioning by detectives — who have since retired — two trips to a psychiatric hospital and heavy doses of antidepressants, Spencer started telling investigators he couldn't remember molesting anyone.

Prosecutors said that inability to remember was proof of Spencer's guilt.

In 2005, The Columbian published "Reversal of Fortune," a three-part series detailing how Spencer went from police officer to prisoner.

Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern University School of Law, told the newspaper that Spencer's inability to remember was a natural byproduct of relentless pressure from investigators determined to make a suspect confess.

Spencer had an $8-an-hour job painting cabinets when he spoke with The Columbian in 2005. He said then that since his court-appointed defense attorney had not done much to prepare a defense (another "troubling aspect" cited in the commutation order), he felt he had no choice but to enter no-contest pleas then hire a new attorney and appeal his conviction.

Several appeals failed. The state parole board refused to free him five times because he refused to admit guilt and enter a sex offender treatment program.

Then Spencer hired Seattle attorney Peter Camiel, who will be with him in court Friday, and his appeals started gaining traction.

In 2004, the Washington State Clemency and Pardons Board unanimously recommended to Locke that Spencer's sentence be commuted.

Under the commutation order, Spencer completed three years of post-prison supervision. He still has to register as a convicted sex offender, however.

In April, the Court of Appeals instructed a Clark County Superior Court judge to listen to testimony from Spencer's children.

If Judge Robert Lewis finds them credible, the appellate judges said Spencer will be allowed to withdraw his pleas.