A 'horrified' Lt. Gov. Owen boots Sen. Roach from Human Trafficking Task Force

Sen. Pam Roach is the longest-serving member of the State Senate, and her conflicts with colleagues and Senate staff go back at least as far as 1999. She was barred from meetings of the Senate Republican Caucus from 2010 to 2012 over her personal behavior. less Sen. Pam Roach is the longest-serving member of the State Senate, and her conflicts with colleagues and Senate staff go back at least as far as 1999. She was barred from meetings of the Senate Republican ... more Photo: Courtesy Washington State Legislature Photo: Courtesy Washington State Legislature Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close A 'horrified' Lt. Gov. Owen boots Sen. Roach from Human Trafficking Task Force 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

State Sen. Pam Roach, R-Sumner, was been booted off the state's Human Trafficking Task Force on Tuesday for what Lt. Gov. Brad Owen described as "vile comments" about victims and abusive conduct that left him "horrified."

Acting in his capacity as president of the Washington State Senate, Owen responded to complaints about Roach's conduct during a Dec. 14 meeting from representatives of the state Dept. of Commerce and the state superintendent of public instruction.

Roach is the longest-serving member of the State Senate, and her conflicts with colleagues and Senate staff go back at least as far as 1999. She was barred from meetings of the Senate Republican Caucus from 2010 to 2012 over her personal behavior.

Owen wrote in unusually blunt terms about Roach's conduct on Dec. 14th, both toward staff and in her remarks about victims.

"You attacked agency staff, persons both present and absent, stakeholders and persons who have miraculously survived being victims of trafficking," Owen wrote.

Officials at the Dept. of Commerce "described their staff as 'visibly shaken' by your attacks," Owen added.

But the lieutenant governor described himself as most "horrified" at the abuse Roach extended to young victims of the human trade.

"Among other fictions, you claimed that sexually trafficked and homeless youth are deliberately trying not to fit with their families by tattooing their faces and getting piercings," Owen wrote.

"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.'"

The senator's remarks "diminish the horrors of trafficking," in Owen's words."Victims of trafficking are already traumatized and none of them need the additional trauma of continued exposure to you or your vile comments."

Roach defended herself to The Olympian, saying that she works "on the ground on these issues." She cited legislation that she sponsored on use of the Internet for child pornography.

The Senator acknowledged possibly mentioning tattoos and piercing during the December meeting, but in the context of being an obstacle to getting a job.

"That is an issue when it comes to being employed: Somebody probably needs to tell them that it's difficult, in some places, to find work," she told the Olympian.

In his letter, however, Owen cited what he called "egregious and offensive behavior, conduct unbecoming any elected official."

He quoted protests received after the task force meeting:

--"Many of the Senator's comments were victim blaming, bigoted and potentially triggering to survivors and others at the table."

--"Survivors in that room were made to feel they would be vilified and mocked if they were to attend."

Owen told Roach she is to have nothing further to do with the trafficking task force or those working with it.

"I further direct you to engage in no retaliatory actions against any persons associated with or having any connection whatsoever with the Human Trafficking Task Force, and to refrain from any further meetings," he wrote.

It is the second such letter Roach has received from Lt. Gov. Owen. A year ago, he wrote: "Sixteen years of inappropriate and unprofessional conduct is enough."

Roach is known for blowups, most famously a lengthy floor speech denouncing person or persons who had removed a flower from her desk on the Senate floor.

In 2003, Republican Senate colleagues recommended that Roach undergo counseling after abusive conduct that included waving a gun at one staff member. (Roach is a crack shot and a longtime Senate ally of the National Rifle Association and initiative promoter Tim Eyman.)

In 2008, she was warned against having contact with Senate staff. She was barred from the caucus two years later, and let back in when they needed her vote to forge a majority coalition with 23 Republicans and two dissident Democrats.

Roach is running for the Pierce County Council this fall.