Report: State employee who investigates child abuse tells police he has sexually abused several kids

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A state Child and Family Services employee whose job involved investigating child abuse and neglect walked into a Yakima police station and said that he had sexually abused five kids during the past eight years, the Yakima Herald reported Friday.

The 50-year-old state employee told police he knew the alleged victims, but that they were not children that he came into contact with as part of his job, the newspaper reported.

Child and Family Services is a division of the state Department of Social and Health Service (DSHS).

According to court documents, the man came into the police station Thursday and said he had sexually abused five children over a period of years, from 2010 to as recently as April 2018.

Police said the victims were believed to be under the age of 12 when the alleged sexual abuse first occurred, the newspaper said.

The man had his first appearance in court on Friday. The investigation is continuing.

Q13 News typically does not name a suspect until he or she has been formally charged.