Sen. Roach removed from task force for inappropriate behavior

Published 5:16 pm Monday, January 25, 2016

Reporter staff

State Sen. Pam Roach has been dismissed from a legislative task force on human trafficking after “numerous complaints” surfaced that she attacked and verbally abused victims of sex trafficking at a meeting last month.

In a letter sent Monday, Lt. Gov. Brad Owen said he was removing Roach, R-Sumner, from the task force after receiving complaints about her inappropriate conduct at a Dec. 14 bipartisan Human Trafficking Task Force meeting.

“You attacked agency staff, persons both present and absent, stakeholders and persons who have miraculously survived being victims of trafficking,” Owen wrote in a letter obtained by the Auburn Reporter. ” … I am horrified that your abuse extended to the survivors of trafficking.

“Among other fictions, you claimed that sexually trafficked and homeless youth are deliberately trying not to fit in with their families by tattooing their faces and getting piercings. Without any apparent basis you minimized the exploitation of sexually trafficked minors by alleging that they probably spend their money on drugs, and asked if the labor trafficked persons were ‘illegals,’ ” Owen wrote.

Those comments “diminish the horrors of trafficking by attacking its victims and consequently erode support for the courageous efforts to combat it,” Owen wrote.

Roach denied being abusive toward trafficking victims.

Owen interviewed those who attended the meeting and found consistencies in their accounts of Roach’s poor behavior.

Owen, a Democrat, appointed Roach to the task force last summer.

According to the letter, Owen said he does not have the legal authority to remove Roach from the Senate, but said that she should be removed based on her “history of egregious and offensive behavior, conduct unbecoming any elected official, a consistent disregard for the rules of the Senate, and multiple displays of contempt for your colleagues.”

This is not the first time Roach has been reprimanded for her conduct.

She was banned from the Senate Republican Caucus in 2010 for reportedly mistreating staff. She also was sanctioned – most often by her Republican colleagues – for abusive behavior in 1999, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

“Your abusive behavior must stop,” Owen wrote. “Further violations will not be tolerated. We will continue to review and investigate your actions as we view necessary.”

Roach has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and accused Senate leaders of being out to get her.

Roach, who represents the 31st Legislative District of southeast King and northeast Pierce counties, is in her seventh term in office, making her the state Senate’s longest-serving Republican member. She is seeking a seat on the Pierce County Council.