The Thurston county ritual abuse case was a case in which Paul Ingram, county Republican Party Chairman of Thurston County, Washington and the Chief Civil Deputy of the Sheriff's department, was accused by his daughters of sexual abuse, by at least one daughter of satanic ritual abuse and later accused by his son in 1996 of being abused by his father from the ages of 4 to 12. He originally pled guilty but has since maintained his innocence. After pleading guilty, he attempted to withdraw his plea and requested a trial or clemency but his requests were refused. Ingram was released in 2003 after serving his sentence. Ingram confessed to a variety of extremely improbable crimes and a sizable number of Ingram's fellow Sheriff's department employees were also accused by Ingram's young daughters