This is KIMA, now live from Yakima, April Minister, Alan Sillman Sports and Stu Seibelweather.
This is KIMA News at 11.
Good evening, thanks for joining us.
Today was another election day in the Yakima Valley.
Voters in the East Valley and Highland School districts were asked to approve maintenance
and operations levies that failed in February.
Highland School districts reported better turnouts than two months ago when bad weather
kept many voters home, and it may have made all the difference.
East Valley's $2.8 million dollar levy has passed.
With 100 percent of the precincts in, 66 percent of voters said yes.
A 60 percent approval rate was needed for the passage.
And it's the same story for the Highland School districts' $1.5 million dollar levy.
Just over 65 percent of voters approved the levy, with over 90 percent of the precincts
reporting.
Suspended Yakima Tribal Police Chief Davis Washings has been found guilty on four counts
of theft, fraud and embezzlement.
A six member jury handed down the verdict after deliberating for a short time this afternoon.
Special prosecutor Iris Hsu tells KIMA News the jury did the right thing by convicting
Washings.
I believe the verdict was that the jurors made the right decision.
And I know this was a painful decision for the jurors to make, and I feel strongly it
was a very courageous decision.
It was the right decision.
Washings was accused of taking money from the sale of tribal owned fish and from a tribal
yard sale in 1990 and 1991.
A May 13 sentencing date has been set.
Washings' attorney Jack Feijander told KIMA, Washings was not unduly surprised by the verdict
given what he had to work with, and added, Washings does not see this as the end of the
case.
Feijander expects to appeal and says he'll file a motion for a mistrial because of allegations
of juror misconduct.
Robert Perattas has been convicted of 13 separate charges in a Yakima County sex abuse case.
The verdict against the 59-year-old man was handed down today in Yakima County Superior
Court.
KIMA's Mike Malmon reports.
Jurors argued Robert Perattas promised six boys jobs at his planned Paradise Oasis Orchard
near Autanum Ridge, but his real motivation was to have sex with the youths.
Judge James Gavin agreed and today found Perattas guilty of third degree rape, third degree
child molestation, attempted indecent liberties, and communicating with a minor for immoral
purposes, 13 counts in all.
The defense argued sexually graphic conversations Perattas had with the boys were not a crime.
The judge disagreed.
All of the things that he was doing, the poking, the prodding, the hugging, all the rest of
that, that is not something that somebody does who has a motive which is other than
to ultimately involve themselves in some type of sexual contact with the person.
The victims were between the ages of 14 and 17.
The incidents happened last summer.
Sentencing will take place in several weeks.
Judge Patty Powers plans to ask for an exceptional prison term of 57 years, well above the normal
sentence of five years for these crimes.
The goal is to make sure that he never has any opportunity to be in contact with young
people and as can be seen from these convictions, we're talking about oral contact in terms
of communicating with them for illicit purposes as you heard during the course of testimony
and also the attempted sexual contact that he undertook and also the sexual intercourse
that he did in fact have with young men.
We don't want any other young person to ever run the risk of a problem with him.
It has yet to be determined whether Perattas will appeal.
Mike Malmon reporting for KIMA News.
Perattas is still scheduled to stand trial on seven counts of indecent liberties.
It's alleged he had unwanted...