A retired Lewis County pediatrician and former Chehalis city councilor faces allegations he sexually assaulted hundreds of children at two state-run juvenile detention facilities across nearly four decades.
Isaac Pope, 86, is the primary defendant in the civil complaint for sexual abuse, negligence and other damages filed in Pierce County Superior Court on Oct. 20.
He has not been charged with any crimes.
Fox 13 Seattle broke the news on Nov. 13, but did not name Pope.
The lawsuit
Attorneys David S. Vogel, Anne M. Bremner and Patrick D. Moore filed the lawsuit on behalf of 14 plaintiffs, who were residents at either Green Hill School in Chehalis or Maple Lane School in Grand Mound during the alleged abuse.
The plaintiffs are now adults.
Other defendants include Pope’s wife, the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration (JRA), Green Hill School and Maple Lane School.
The complaint also lists “Doe” defendants.
Vogel told The Chronicle the case is scheduled to begin trial Oct. 15, 2026.
The lawsuit alleges that Pope systematically molested hundreds of children during physical examinations under “the guise of an examination for cancer of the penis and scrotum.”
The 25-page complaint — which includes an additional exhibit — further alleges the doctor raped hundreds of children under the guise of rectal examinations for prostate cancer.
Due to their graphic nature, The Chronicle is limiting the details of these allegations.
A spokesperson for Seattle law firm Helsell Fetterman informed The Chronicle that attorneys Rabia Ahmad and David Corey have “appeared as defense counsel” for Pope and his wife.
“The firm, as a general rule, does not comment on active litigation,” the spokesperson wrote over email. “This is especially true in medical malpractice cases, where we are prohibited by law from offering any comment.”
The spokesperson indicated that such “unauthorized disclosure” of a patient’s protected health information would violate HIPAA privacy laws.
Vogel explained that Pope’s wife is not alleged to have committed any wrongdoing. Plaintiffs often file a complaint against a “marital community” to prevent one defendant from transferring assets to their spouse during the case.
Outside of Pope, the lawsuit claims DSHS, DCYF, JRA, Green Hill School and Maple Lane School were negligent in their systemic failure to protect the plaintiffs.
Instead, the state and its institutions “actively endangered them and sacrificed their well-being to protect themselves from liability,” the complaint alleges.
NO ONE LISTENED THIS WAS 2019
Another Lawsuit Filed Against State, Green Hill Alleging Sexual Abuse, Negligence
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs’ claims have each been filed within three years, or sooner, of when they learned Pope, the state and its agencies “breached the applicable standards of care and/or owed them duties which caused their injuries and/or discovered the causal connection between the abuse and the injuries for which this suit was brought.”
The Chronicle requested comment from both DCYF and DSHS. A spokesperson for DSHS said the case was a DCYF complaint, not a DSHS complaint.
DCYF said they could not comment on active litigation.
Plaintiffs allege ‘culture’ of abuse
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The plaintiffs, listed by their initials in the complaint, describe a “culture of sexual abuse” that spread to the highest levels of management at the two institutions and extended to the Juvenile Rehabilitation divisions of the DSHS and DCYF.
Because of this culture, which allowed and even fostered sexual abuse of residents of Green Hill and Maple Lane, Plaintiffs and many other Green Hill and Maple Lane residents were repeatedly sexually abused while in State custody,” the complaint states.
Though the plaintiffs’ allegations cover roughly 20 years, from around 1999 to 2020, Vogel alleges that Pope started administering the physical exams that included sexual assault at least as early as 1982, and continued them until his retirement from Green Hill in 2020.
Vogel said one of the reasons for choosing these specific plaintiffs was to show the span of time Pope committed the alleged abuse.
“I wanted the jury to see that this was an ongoing, habitual practice on the part of this doctor,” the attorney said.
The lawsuit references a 2021 deposition in which Pope indicated he was sent a letter from then Green Hill School Superintendent Jennifer Redman in 2019. The letter reportedly stated Pope was not allowed to conduct physical exams unless a nurse was present.
A portion of the deposition — which was part of a previous lawsuit against DSHS, JRA and Green Hill School — is included as an exhibit in the new complaint. In that portion, Pope says “yes” when asked if Superintendent Redman had given him the letter.
“But that didn’t even slow him down,” Vogel said. “Because many of my cases were from the year 2020, and no nurse was present.”
The complaint does not include an actual copy of the letter.
Vogel said the only “presence” during those examinations was a guard standing outside Pope’s door. According to the attorney, the guards would communicate to the plaintiffs — who were around 14 to 17 at the time of the alleged abuse — that they needed to cooperate with the doctor, “or there would be consequences.”
Those consequences allegedly included the loss of privileges — and solitary confinement.
“In particular, there was one guard who was known to be brutal towards the residents at Green Hill, and he was often the guard who was used by Dr. Pope to bring his patients to him during this 2020 year, and before that, too, because he had been there for some years,” Vogel said.
The guard, who is not named in the complaint, may be included as a defendant if and when Vogel and his fellow attorneys determine his full name.
Vogel said he believes the evidence indicates Pope was a serial rapist who could not quit.
“Because after being warned not to have these exams in private, he continued on as if the warning were never given,” Vogel said.
Fear of retaliation
Vogel addressed what he said is a common question that arises with these types of cases.
That is, why didn’t the plaintiffs report the allegations when they were at the juvenile institution?
Vogel said Pope’s longstanding position at the facilities was coupled with his perceived power and authority.
“If it came down to who’s telling the truth, these kids felt that (Pope) would be believed and they would not,” Vogel said.
On top of that, the culture among the incarcerated individuals inhibited the reporting of abuse. Residents avoided acts that might be considered snitching.
“Another thing is that in the institution at Green Hill, it was feared that if you reported that you were a victim, you would then be victimized (by other inmates),” Vogel said.
The fear was so pervasive that inmates referred to Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) forms used for reporting sexual assaults as “snitch forms,” according to Vogel.
Some clients had to wait until they dropped out of their gang or left the institution before they felt safe enough to report their abuse, Vogel added.
Pope played into this general fear, too, Vogel alleges, by telling residents that what went on in his medical office was private. Sharing information, on the other hand, could result in repercussions. Namely, solitary confinement, otherwise known as “the hole.”
There was another factor: residents trusted Pope because he was a doctor.
“And when they realized that they could not trust their doctor, they lost trust in everything,” Vogel said, adding that a number of his clients hadn’t seen a doctor since they were at the juvenile institution 15 to 20 years ago.
What is Scomiting?....
Some clients experienced bad health situations as a result of avoiding care, Vogel said. Some don’t even take their kids to the doctor.
A history of local service — and controversy
Pope has been a leader in the Centralia and Chehalis communities for over 45 years.
In addition to working as the doctor at both Green Hill School, Maple Lane School and his private practice, Pope served as a doctor for Pope’s Place, a Centralia-based pediatric facility for children with special needs. He cofounded the organization with his wife in 1995.
Pope was also a Chehalis city councilor from 1987 to 2023.
The doctor received numerous awards during his career in Lewis County. In 2002, he was honored as a state Jefferson Award winner for his community service related to Pope’s Place.
The following year, the University of Washington School of Medicine Alumni Association presented Pope with the Alumni Humanitarian Award. Pope received his doctor of medicine degree from the school in 1974.
On five consecutive occasions, from 1997 to 2001, Pope was voted Best Medical Doctor as part of The Chronicle’s Best of Lewis County awards.
With accolades came accusations. In 2003, The Chronicle reported on allegations that Pope had sexual contact with a woman when she was 15 and he was 41.
Detectives briefly investigated the allegations before the statute of limitations ran out in 1994.
The woman, Jennifer O’Brien, said the physical intimacy began in the early 80s, about a year and a half after she first met Pope during his first year in private practice in Centralia.
Pope denied the allegations.
According to previous Chronicle reporting, in 2021, the state of Washington settled with 10 plaintiffs who alleged sexual abuse while in custody at Green Hill School.
The plaintiffs were reportedly in custody between 1976 and 2008.
Though Pope was not listed as one of the defendants in the complaint, some of the plaintiffs did name Pope in their accusations. In the end, the state awarded the plaintiffs over $2 million.
Pope did not respond to The Chronicle’s request for comment at the time.
The ‘tip of the iceberg’
Vogel referred to the current complaint as the “tip of the iceberg” and said there are hundreds of people who have filed claims against the state of Washington based on Pope’s alleged conduct.
The case is unique to past lawsuits in that Pope has been named as a defendant — in addition to being an agent of the state — making him personally liable for damages.
The attorney indicated his clients want Pope to suffer consequences for his alleged actions, and said more plaintiffs may be introduced at a later date.
Vogel, who worked in the Special Assault Unit as a former King County deputy prosecutor in the 1980s, said he is working through an “early resolution process” with the state in order to expedite and minimize the procedure costs of cases not currently in litigation.
State law requires that plaintiffs first file a tort claim in order to file a lawsuit against the state. The state then has 60 days to investigate and potentially negotiate a settlement before proceeding with the lawsuit. These types of claims are not typically negotiated, Vogel said.
“That’s rarely done with a state or municipality to negotiate cases prior to the filing of a lawsuit,” Vogel said. “But in this particular case, I think the state is doing the right thing to process these as claims instead of requiring the full litigation.”
If the claim process is successful, Vogel said, he won’t have to file as many lawsuits.
According to Vogel, there are “many cases” currently in that process. A few of the cases were ultimately pulled out and included in the lawsuit.
Next steps
Vogel emphasized the civil allegations are just that, allegations, but ones the attorneys intend to prove at trial.
“And I think if we go to trial in this case, we could bring in 40 people who could testify, ‘Yes, he did it to me, too.’”
Vogel acknowledged the public might have to overcome their initial reservations about believing people who have been incarcerated, but said people should look at the facts individually.
“And I think that that was one of the things that Dr. Pope counted on is that, because these kids are incarcerated, they are far less likely to be believed,” Vogel said. “And so we need to overcome that presumption, and we will overcome it through the volume of these cases and also through the credibility of the individual witnesses.”
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