9/26: update: A friend of the reader mentioned below went to the courthouse as I suggested to get this public document and checked out what case Kent referred to and while it is not the case I am currently investigating, I think my reader's comments sum it up well.
"Good afternoon John. Mike went to the courthouse and got Kent's documents and he was not speaking about my case. Just wanted to let you know. The saddest part of that reality is that there are other cases similar to mine, leaving me to wonder how we can plumb the depths of Humboldt's depravity, from the top down. So disheartening and disgusting that there are more kids subject to these "authorities" as their innocence is stolen, with no hope for justice. Take care."
(message cropped to protect identity of the children, the father sent me this message)
(this is one of the most recent messages I received from the father)
Yesterday, Kent Sawatzky brought up CWS and an alleged cover up at the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting. No local media covered it. It was mentioned on Reddit, I did a post on that thread.
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2024/09/some-humboldt-redditors-need-to-use.html?m=1
Even before I listened to Kent's remarks, I wrote this in yesterday's post. "There are many horrific stories about abuse in the courts, in family law cases, in what gets addressed and what does not. It takes time to gather evidence, to get attention, to be careful that the children's identities are protected. I have been working with one reader for years and a state investigator is involved. Telling the Humboldt Board of Supervisors will do squat."
I didn't have time to listen to Kent's remarks until this morning. The video is up now and Kent is the first speaker under public comment.
After hearing his remarks, I am sure this case is the one I was first contacted about in 2020. The investigation is going. One needs solid evidence before reporting or going public with allegations.
I have repeatedly explained to the person making these allegations what needs to be done and now that either he or someone connected to him went to Kent Sawatzky, they can deal with the consequences.
To the father, you made a mistake or your friend made a mistake by getting Kent involved and this only confirms my years of suspicion and red flags and why I repeatedly told you for the children's sake to be patient and allow me to investigate this properly and the challenges I face constantly in this county and explaining to you that this had to be handled very carefully given for the children's sake. I was waiting for the state investigation to be completed.
I put my name, my life, my finances at risk; not the people contacting me. I need solid evidence.
(This is a message from March 2024)
Part of that email exchange is me asking about documents from Humboldt County.
The online attorney had the same concerns I have. The father names the parties online on this thread. I have that documented. For the children's sake, I will not post that but the father should have thought of protecting his young children.
I do know who the two parties are, I know who the alleged perpretrator is, I know the family members of the perpetrator which include a current law enforcement officer and while I will follow up on this as I have been doing for years, I am not Kent's puppet nor will I be manipulated by anyone.
I am also covering another lawsuit involving the father of these children and another unrelated local party.
At 12:33 today, I heard from the father.
"John, I don’t know who Kent is. I haven’t reached out to anyone else! I have no idea who Kent is or how he knows about my case! I assure you that I have kept my word!"
He also told me, "Also, that chat that is online, I had no idea that it would have been posted publicly. If I knew they were going to post it online, I would not have said everything I did. The same reason I have not posted things publicly but only asked people to look into it. I believe I paid for that advice as well. That was a few years ago. That is highly unfortunate. "
At 12:38, I responded, "Thank you for this, I would suggest for your children's sake that you look into who leaked this to Kent. I have not given up looking into this but as you and my readers know well, lately there have been many additional challenges."
*for clarification, Drake Goodale is no longer with EPD but works for HCSO. His attitude towards me, like many in Humboldt, depends on what is beneficial for him now or their own issues. Unlike Drake, I still respect his wife and other family members who are genuine. Drake is not a confidential source. He chose to tell this person and gave them my contact inforamation without contacting or notifying me. The person said that Drake told them they could trust me to do an independent investigation and that I would not walk away from covering a legit news story regardless of who was involved. Kent Sawatzky chose to make this public at a BOS meeting with complete disregard for anyone else, especially the children, so direct your annoyance & issues to the local BOS frequent flier who may have botched an ongoing investigation due to his ego and need to own the Sups**
Anon Redditors and even people who use their names risk nothing, do nothing. Humboldt has failed to keep the players involved in ruining Humboldt lives in check. And Humboldt, with the exception of a few people, is all talk but does not fund or support independent journalism or individuals doing consistent reporting. The failure to protect children, women, victims is on every single one of you.
