Wrongly Convicted Database

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Henry Cunningham

Years Imprisoned:	4
Charge:	Child Abuse
Sentence:	47 year
Year Convicted:	1994
Year Cleared:	1999
Location of Trial:	Washington
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	One of the Wenatchee 43 accused of being involved in an elaborate child abuse sex ring. Henry Cunningham was represented by a public defender who did nothing to investigate his case, and thus did not learn the child accusers in the Wenatchee cases had been influenced to make false accusations. Cunningham pled guilty to 23 counts of child rape in August 1994 under the threat of being given a life sentence if he went to trial and was convicted. The Washington Court of Appeals vacated his guilty plea in 1999. After his release from prison the charges were dismissed. Cunningham filed a $10 million suit against the City of Wenatchee and the State of Washington.
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous child abuse accusations by the children involved under the influence of a Wenatchee detective and Washington State Child Protective Services workers.
Innocence Proved By:
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Found?
Age When Imprisoned:	46
Age When Released:	50
Information Source 1:	Wenatchee child-sex figure freed from prison, By Judd Slivka and Elaine Porterfield, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 6, 1999
Information Location 1:	http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/wena06.shtml
Information Source 2:	""The Wenatchee "Sex Rings": Part 2""
Information Location 2:	http://www.religioustolerance.org/wenatche2.htm
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Ethnicity/Skin:	White
Book About Case:	“Witch Hunt: a true story of social hysteria and abused justice,” Kathryn Lyon, Avon Books, NY, 1998
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:	Falsely confessed

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Henry Cunningham

Years Imprisoned:

4

Charge:

Child Abuse

Sentence:

47 year

Year Convicted:

1994

Year Cleared:

1999

Location of Trial:

Washington

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous child abuse accusations by the children involved under the influence of a Wenatchee detective and Washington State Child Protective Services workers.

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Found?

Age When Imprisoned:

46

Age When Released:

50

Information Source 1:

Wenatchee child-sex figure freed from prison, By Judd Slivka and Elaine Porterfield, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 6, 1999

Information Location 1:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/wena06.shtml

Information Source 2:

""The Wenatchee "Sex Rings": Part 2""

Information Location 2:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/wenatche2.htm

Information Source 3:

Information Location 3:

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Ethnicity/Skin:

White

Book About Case:

“Witch Hunt: a true story of social hysteria and abused justice,” Kathryn Lyon, Avon Books, NY, 1998

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case:

Falsely confessed

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Go to Database Index Page