http://ritualabuse.

us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/

Updated Day Care and Child Abuse Cases

This page has information on the McMartin Preschool Case, Michelle Remembers, the
Fells Acres – Amirault Case, the Wenatchee, Washington Case, the Dale Akiki Case,
the Glendale Montessori – Toward case, the Little Rascals Day Care Center case,
Fran’s Day Care case, the Baran case, the Halsey case and the West Memphis 3 case.

It describes alleged crimes against children and the convictions in most of these
cases.

Sexual Abuse in Day Care: A National Study – Executive Summary – March 1988 –
Finklehor, Williams, Burns, Kalinowski “The study identified 270 “cases” of sexual
abuse in day care meaning 270 facilities where substantiated abuse had occurred
involving a total of 1639 victimized children….This yielded an estimate of 500 to
550 reported and substantiated cases and 2500 victims for the three-year period.
Although this is a large number, it must be put in the context of 229,000 day care
facilities nationwide service seven million children….allegations of ritual abuse
(”the invocation of religious, magical or supernatural symbols of activities”)
occurred in 13% of the cases.” The authors divided these cases into “true cult-
based ritual,” pseudo-ritualism” with a primary goal of sexual gratification and
ritual being used to intimidate the children from disclosing and
“psychopathological ritualism” the activities being “primarily the expression of
an individuals obsessional or delusional system.”
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1
c/82/61.pdf

The McMartin Preschool Case – What Really Happened and the Cover-up

http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/mcmartin-preschool-case-what-really-
happened-and-the-coverup/

describes crimes of abuse

Satanism Linked To Scores of U.S. Child Abuse Cases Edward W. Lempinen. San
Francisco Chronicle 11/5/87 p. A1 Satanism and cult rituals have been linked to
scores of child-molestation cases nationwide in the past five years, including
dozens in California. Children as young as 2 and 3 years old have come forward
with harrowing tales of drinking blood, animal sacrifices and sexual abuse as part
of rituals, according to law enforcement investigators, child abuse experts and
parents. Others have even talked of cannibalism and ritual sacrifice of children.
After hearing similar tales over and over from people across the country, many
investigators and child abuse experts now have come to believe in the
unbelievable….In San Francisco, police confirmed last week that they are
investigating reports by a 3-year-old girl who claimed that she was taken from a
day-care center at the Presidio Army base and driven to a home where she was
molested by two men in costumes. Police suspect that the home was the headquarters
of the Temple of Set, a Nazi-Satanic group, and they have listed the temple’s high
priest as a possible suspect. No arrests have been made. Investigators and parents
have declined to give details of the cases of at least 58 children who attended
the Presidio Child Development Center, fearing that they might jeopardize the
prosecution of a former day-care worker. But in other cases across the nation,
experts say there is striking evidence of ritualized sexual abuse that recurs in
case after case: — At West Point, N.Y., Army families have pressed an
investigation into widespread child abuse at a military day-care center in 1983
and 1984….But an increasingly influential group of legal, psychological and
medical experts say they are beginning to amass considerable testimony and
circumstantial evidence of cult and Satanic abuse nationwide – and dating back
four generations or more. Sandi Gallant, an intelligence officer with the San
Francisco police and one of the nation’s most influential experts on cults,
cautions that many cases are proving unfounded. But she says that there have been
60 to 70 “solid” cases of ritual sexual abuse in the past few years nationwide.
She and others have heard hundreds of children and adult – people who have never
met and who live a continent apart – tell stories that are fundamentally the same.
“Independently, the victims are describing incredibly similar circumstances,” said
Catherine Gould, a clinical psychologist in the Los Angeles district of Encino who
has counseled dozens of children who claim they were molested in rituals.
http://ezproxy.sfpl.org/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?
did=65772423&Fmt=3&clientId=3266&RQT=309&VName=PQD

verification of the accuracy of the book “Michelle Remembers“by Michelle Smith and
Lawrence Pazder, MD from the book “A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER” pages xi – xiii”

“Dr. Pazder’s credentials are impressive. He obtained his M.D. from the University
of Alberta in 1961; his diploma in tropical medicine from the University Liverpool
in 1962; and in 1968, his specialist certificate in psychiatry and his diploma in
psychological medicine from McGill University. In 1971, he was made a fellow of
Canada’s Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a member of three
Canadian professional associations and of the American Psychiatric Association as
well. He practiced medicine in West Africa and has participated in medical task
forces and health organizations. He has been chairman of the Mental Health
Committee of the Health Planning Council for British Columbia. A member of the
staff of two hospitals in Victoria, British Columbia -the Royal Jubilee and the
Victoria General-he is in private practice with a group of five psychiatrists. His
professional papers include a study of the long-term effects of stress upon
concentration-camp victims.

Two experienced interviewers journeyed to Victoria and talked to Dr. Pazder’s

colleagues, to the priests and the bishop who became involved in the case, to
doctors who treated Michelle Smith when she was a child, to relatives and friends.
From local newspaper, clergy, and police sources they learned that reports of
Satanism in Victoria are not infrequent and that Satanism has apparently existed
there for many years. Satanism in Western Canada flourished in many areas with
activities far more ominous than some of the innocuous groups now found in parts
of the United States who claim some connection with Satanism.

The source material was scrutinized. The many thousands of pages of transcript of
the tape recordings that Dr. Pazder and Michelle Smith made of their psychiatric
sessions were read and digested; they became the basis of this book. The tapes
themselves were listened to in good measure, and the videotapes made of some of
his sessions were viewed. Both the audio and video are powerfully convincing. It
is nearly unthinkable that the protracted agony they record could have been
fabricated.”

Thomas B. Congdon, Jr New York April 22, 1980

Fells Acres – Amirault Case

http://web.archive.org/web/20010719201703/http://www.vocal-nasvo.org /hardoon.htm

Letters to the Editor: The Real Darkness Is Child Abuse WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
02/24/95

excerpts:
As the chief prosecutor of both of the Amirault cases I am writing to prevent the
public from being misled into believing that an injustice occurred as Dorothy
Rabinowitz alleges in her Jan. 30 editorial-page piece “A Darkness in
Massachusetts.”

Her suggestion that the convictions were based on “some of the most fantastic
claims ever presented” presumptuously ignores the reality of the cases. The three
Amiraults — Gerald, Violet and Cheryl – were convicted after two trials before
different judges and juries almost one year apart. They were represented by able
and well-known defense counsel. The convictions were upheld after review by state
and federal appellate courts. The McMartin case in California was the result of a
botched legal system and Kelly Michaels’s conviction was overturned because of
legal errors. Contrary to Ms. Rabinowitz’s implication, the Amirault convictions
were neither of these.

Studies show, as did testimony from a nationally recognized pediatric

gynecologist, that most sexually molested young children have absolutely normal
physical examinations. However, in Amirault, the majority of the female children
who testified had some relevant physical findings, as did several female children
involved in the investigation who did not participate in the trial. The findings
included labial adhesions and hymenal scarring of the sort present in avery small
percentage of non-sexually abused children.

Ms. Rabinowitz’s article is a superficial, one-sided look at a case handled

extensively and carefully by the legal system. The victims and their families in
these cases have been irrevocably harmed by what was done to them by the
Amiraults. Every argument raised by Ms. Rabinowitz was ably presented by the
defense at the trials. The juries, by their verdicts, rejected these arguments.
Justice was done.

see for actual case evidence

http://abusearticles.wordpress.com/category/commonwealth-vs-amirault/

http://abusearticles.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/common -vs-amirault-424-mass-618-
page-624.jpg

http://abusearticles.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/common-vs-amirault-424-mass-618-
page-622.jpg

“All nine children testified in a broadly consistent way…The children testified to

numerous instances of sexual abuse. Some of the children testified that they were
photographed during this abuse, describing a big camera with wires, a red button,
and pictures which came out of the camera. The children testified that the
defendant threatened them and told them that their families would be harmed if
they told anyone about the abuse….The Commonwealth also presented a pediatric
gynecologist and pediatrician who examined five of the girls who testified…She
made findings consistent with abuse in four of the girls.”

http://pqasb.pqarchive r.com/bostonherald/access/77139259.html?
dids=77139259:77139259&FMT=ABS&
;FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Aug+7%2C+2001&author=Peter+Gelzinis&pub=Boston+H
erald&edition=&startpage=002&desc=Amirault%27s+accusers+reveal+the ir+faces
%2C+and+their+pain

Amirault’s accusers reveal their faces, and their pain Boston Herald – Boston,
Mass. – Peter Gelzinis – Aug 7, 2001

http://web.archive.org/web/2001080701133
0/http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010802/us/preschool_abuse_3.html

Mass. Victims Fight Commutation Plea By Leslie Miller, Associated Press Writer

excerpts:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) – Victims in the Fells Acres child abuse case broke down
Thursday as they described their pain publicly for the first time in hopes of
keeping the last person convicted in the case behind bars. Victims urged her to
keep Amirault in prison. “During counseling meetings as a child, I would speak of
a tall man touching me and taking pictures of me,” Phaedra Hopkins, 20, said at an
emotional news conference. “So many times, Mr. Amirault hovered over me, touched
me and hurt me and committed many disgusting acts of abuse.” Those children, now
adults, stood by their testimony Thursday.

“This family raped me, molested me and totally ruined my life,’’said Jennifer
Bennett, who was 3 1/2 years old when she started at Fells Acres. “We weren’t
coaxed. We weren’t lying. We’re telling the truth and we always will,” said
Bennett, 22. “I was there. None of you were there. We weren’t coaxed, nor were we
ever ever ever brainwashed.”Brian Martinello, 21, said he was sexually abused by
Amirault. His mother, Barbara Standke, claims her son came home from the day care
with sores on his genitals and other people’s underwear. “I think it’s an absolute
disgrace to let anyone out of prison for such a disgusting crime,” Martinello
said.

Paul Ingram – Thurston County Washington Case

Seattle Post-Intelligencer – June 8, 1996 – News, Pg. B1 – Son of Deputy Says He

Was Sexually Abused ; Dramatic Report in Testimony to Clemency Panel -: Rachel
Zimmerman P-I Capitol Bureau – Olympia

excerpts:

The son of Paul Ingram, a former Thurston County deputy sheriff who confessed to
raping his daughters during nightmarish satanic rituals but later recanted, said
for the first time yesterday that he was physically and sexually abused by his
father for eight years. Chad Ingram, 27, told the state Pardons and Clemency Board
that his father, who is serving 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to six
counts of third-degree rape – crimes he now says never happened – said he was
abused by his father from ages 4 to 12. “He would put himself on top of me and I
would perform oral sex on him,” Chad Ingram said.

Thurston County Sheriff Gary Edwards, though the case never went to trial, it was
subject to intense judicial scrutiny, “all the way up to the Ninth Circuit.”
Edwards added, “This case was not perfect but it had complete judicial review.
“Paul Ingram did commit these crimes; he plead guilty to these crimes. I have no
problem shaving in the morning. I can look myself in the mirror.”

The Facade of Scientific Documentation: A Case Study of Richard Ofshe’s Analysis

of the Paul Ingram Case” by Karen Olio and William Cornell. APA’s journal
“Psychology, Public Policy, and Law,” (1998, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1182-1197) “The case
of Paul Ingram, a man who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his daughters, has
received widespread media attention. Richard Ofshe (1992, 1994) set forth a
narrative of the case which included his account of an experiment to test the
veracity of Ingram’s confessions and concluded that the inadvertent use of
hypnosis during Ingram’s interrogation resulted in the creation of pseudomemories
that convinced Ingram of his guilt. On the basis of an examination of the original
source documents, the authors discusses the errors of fact, methodological flaws,
and confounding factors in Ofshe’s rendering of this case of alleged child abuse.
They also cite examples of the extent to which Ofshe’s imperfect narrative of this
case and pseudoscientific conclusions have been uncritically accepted and repeated
in the literature…”

Harvard Society for Law & Public Policy, Inc. Harvard Journal of Law & Public
Policy – Spring, 1999 – 22 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 523 The Guilty and the
“Innocent”: an Examination of Alleged Cases of Wrongful Conviction from False
Confessions by Paul G. Cassell -”According to the authors (Leo and Ofsche), in
twenty-nine of these cases the false confession resulted in the wrongful
conviction of an innocent person.” “examines nine of these twenty-nine cases in
detail. Based on review of original trial court records and other similar sources,
the part concludes that each of these nine persons were, in all likelihood,
entirely guilty of the crimes charged against them.”"Leo and Ofshe rely in large
measure on secondary sources for the descriptions of the evidence against the
defendants in their collection….For many cases, court records are available only
in the local courthouses where the trial took place, while media accounts are
often readily accessible in computerized databases. Relying on secondary sources,
however, poses the risk of inaccurate recounting of the evidence. Examining
primary sources for the cases in Leo and Ofshe’s collection reveals that this is a
very real problem.” “The problems with the subjective determination of “innocence”
in the Leo-Ofshe collection, like similar problems elsewhere, suggests that
reliance on second-hand sources combined with understandable enthusiasm for the
enterprise of discovering miscarriages may produce more such cases than really
exist.” “Only a relative handful of Leo and Ofshe’s cases would satisfy the
criterion of undisputed wrongful conviction.”
http://www.kspope.com/memory/facade1a.php

Wenatchee, Washington Case

http://abusearticles.wordpress.com/category/articles-on-wenatchee/

information from articles :

At the trial, one girl showed “definite medical signs of sexual abuse” while “it
could not be ruled out for two others.

In 1996, a consultant, retired Bellevue Police Chief D.P. Van Blaricom, hired by a
city insurer who looked into how the Wenatchee police ran the child abuse
investigations stated that the cases were handled properly. A U.S. Department of
Justice investigation also found that there was no evidence of civil rights
violations.

Cops Win Wash. State Sex Ring Case – June 29, 1998 – Aviva L. Brandt AP Online –
Seattle “A jury on Monday rejected claims of police misconduct brought by four
people who say they were falsely accused of child rape and molestation. After
deliberating for more than five days, the King County Superior Court panel decided
that the central Washington town of Wenatchee, the town’s police officials and
three members of the Douglas County sheriff’s department did not violate the civil
rights of the four, who said they were falsely accused in 1994-95. Douglas County
Sheriff Dan LaRoche said the verdict allows police to keep investigating sex abuse
and molestation cases without fear of lawsuits.

Debate Rages Over Wenatchee Sex-Ring Allegations – November 6, 1995- Aviva L.

Brandt, Associated Press Writer – Wenatchee, Wash.

Excerpts:
A line divides this town. On one side are those who believe dozens of children
were raped and molested over seven years by adults in two loosely organized sex
rings. On the other are those who assert a rogue cop and obsessed social workers
created a whirlpool of sexual hysteria- coaxing children into accusations and
bullying bewildered, poorly educated adults into confessions. Gov. Mike Lowry,
petitioned by critics who believe the case is a witch hunt, has asked for a
Justice Department review and is awaiting a decision from U.S. Attorney General
Janet Reno. Authorities say as many as 50 children were forced to have sex with
adults since 1988 – sometimes alone, sometimes in groups. In the last year, 28
adults have been charged with child rape and sexual abuse. Five have been
convicted, 10 have pleaded guilty.

“Every female victim had physical evidence of sexual abuse and the majority of the
males did,” Smith said. “Clearly it’s pretty good evidence to show that this is
occurring.”

Douglas County Prosecutor Steve Clem sounded frustrated when asked about
allegations that his office hasn’t bothered to look for the truth. “The defense
attorneys are using what I’m sure … some day in the future will be called the O.J.
defense, where they sling mud, make wild accusations and see conspiracies all
around them,” he said.” There’s physical evidence consistent with the stories they
(the children) tell. There’s more than one person talking about the very same
things going on,” said Tim Abbey, a regional supervisor with the state Child
Protective Services. “And there are a lot of confessions, and many times they’re
confessing to more than the kids said happened.”

Dale Akiki Case

describes crimes

Ex-School Volunteer Acquitted of Child Abuse Charges Verdict: After deliberating

for just seven hours, jury finds Dale Akiki not guilty on all 35 counts. Trial was
longest in San Diego’s history. Los Angeles Times – Los Angeles, Calif. – Michael
Granberry – Nov 20, 1993
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60254778.html?dids=60254778:6025
4778&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+20%2C+1993&
author=MICHAEL+GRANBERRY&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edi
tion=&startpage=29&desc=Ex-School+Volunteer+Acquitted+of+Child+Abuse+C
harges+Verdict%3A+After+deliberating+for+just+seven+hours%2C+jury+finds+Dale+A
kiki+not+guilty+on+all+35+counts.+Trial+was+longest+in+San+Diego%27s+history

A Superior Court jury concluded a 7 1/2-month trial Friday by acquitting a former

nursery school volunteer of 35 counts of child abuse and kidnapping that had kept
him jailed without bail for 2 1/2 years….

Nearly 170 witnesses testified during Akiki’s trial-the longest in San Diego
history-which ended after only seven hours of jury deliberation….

Several on the (jury) panel sided with Akiki’s attorneys, public defenders
Kathleen Coyne and Susan Clemens, who tried to show that Akiki’s alleged victims-
nine boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 5-had been systematically
brainwashed by parents and therapists.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery, the lead prosecutor, disputed such claims.

“The whole idea of contamination and suggestibility just does not account for the
major behavior changes that occurred (in the children) while they were in Dale
Akiki’s (nursery school) class,” she said, referring to such incidents as bed-
wetting and nightmares.

Witnesses accused Akiki of sexually molesting and terrorizing children at Faith

Chapel charismatic church in Spring Valley by hanging them upside-down from a
chandelier, dunking them in toilets and making them drink the blood of animals in
ritualistic ceremonies.

Molestation Hearing Continues Next Week – Los Angeles Times – February 8, 1992 –
San Diego County Edition

.…Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery has called some of the parents to testify about
behavioral changes they observed in the children. “There were drastic changes
observed,” Avery said. Defense attorney Kate Coyne, however, maintains that Akiki
has been falsely accused by parents who did not like his physical appearance.

Judge Rejects Bail for Suspect In Molestations at Preschool – Los Angeles Times –
May 25, 1991 Amy Wallace; Times Staff Writer

….But Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery, the prosecutor, said that, in addition to the
grand jury testimony of seven children who attended the Faith Chapel in Casa de
Oro, her case will rely on behavioral symptoms observed by parents months before
any allegations of abuse were raised.

One mother said her daughter was so terrified of having her head near water that
it was impossible to wash her hair, Avery said. Grand jury testimony later
revealed that at least one child had had her head dunked in a toilet, she said.

Testimony was also heard that a child became hysterical when he was taken to a
hospital to get stitches, apparently because he had a flashback of “the defendant
holding him down and hurting him,” Avery said. The indictment filed against Akiki
said he inflicted injuries on children with a needle.

Avery maintained that some of the children remain so traumatized by Akiki’s

treatment that they have attempted suicide–one by running in front of a car,
another with a knife.

Other Suspects Added to Child Sex Abuse Probe - Los Angeles Times – May 15, 1991 –
Amy Wallace; Times Staff Writer

As many as three former child care workers at Faith Chapel in Spring Valley are
suspected of molesting and abusing preschoolers over a 15-month period ending in
August, 1989, a San Diego County prosecutor said Tuesday.

Speaking after the arraignment of Dale Anthony Akiki, a former church volunteer
who was indicted last week on 50 felony counts of child molestation and related
charges, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery said two other former child care workers
are being investigated….

According to the 13-page indictment, which a grand jury returned after hearing
live televised testimony from seven of the children, Akiki abused them sexually
and physically, at times using a bottle top, a toy, a glass, a stick and a needle.

Church Volunteer Indicted in Molestations – Los Angeles Times – May 14, 1991 – Amy
Wallace; Alan Abrahamson; Times Staff Writers

….Soon, Avery said, a couple of parents noticed that their children were
exhibiting similar “unusual” and “regressive” behavior. The children had not yet
said they were abused, Avery said, but the parents observed a pattern.
“In thinking it over, they realized the one thing the children had in common was
they went to the same church,” she said.

The church asked a licensed social worker to assess whether there was reasonable
suspicion of abuse and, after talking to a few families, he reported the case to
the authorities.

Avery began investigating in February, 1990. Since then, she said, the district
attorney’s office has kept Akiki under periodic surveillance, “to make sure he was
not working with children during the week or involved with child care in any way.”

Avery said her case is strengthened by the fact that it relies on the children’s
behavior as well as their testimony. “It will focus on behavior that was observed
prior to the initial disclosure” of the alleged abuse, she said. “So there cannot
be a contamination issue regarding behavior that occurred prior to anyone ever
mentioning this to the children.”

Unlike other child molestation cases that rely largely on the testimony of the
victims, the Akiki case is “one which can be cleanly and coherently presented to a
jury for their determination,” said Steve Casey, a spokesman for the district
attorney’s office.

Glendale Montessori – Toward case

describes crimes

Headmaster’s evil lives on in 20-year-old abuse case By Jill Taylor Palm Beach
Post Staff Writer 3/1/08 Stuart – Twenty years ago today, on a quiet street in a
guard-gated Palm City community, investigators snapped handcuffs onto the wrists
of a respected Montessori school headmaster and delivered a message the people of
Martin County did not want to hear. Little children, lots of little children, were
raped and defiled in unspeakable ways by a man some of the smartest and richest
people in the community had trusted to care for their sons and daughters….Hours
later, Toward’s office manager, Brenda Williams, turned herself in at the Martin
County jail to answer similar charges. Four months later, Toward was charged with
molesting and kidnapping five more preschool boys, and Williams was charged in
four of those cases. Investigators later learned of up to 60 victims, most ages 2
to 5….Toward, now 77, pleaded guilty to molesting or kidnapping the six boys and
was sentenced to 27 years in prison. He was released from his prison term on
probation after 12 years, but has remained in custody under the state’s Jimmy Ryce
Act, which allows confinement of sex offenders deemed a continuing danger to the
community. Toward is challenging his commitment and maintains his innocence,
saying his plea was only to avoid a harsher sentence. No date has been scheduled
for a civil trial on the issue. He did not respond to a request for an interview.
Part of Toward’s plea deal prevented prosecutors from filing more charges or
arresting others they thought were involved when dozens more victims came forward
later….”We found there were literally dozens of kids who were affected by this guy
for a long time,” Colton said. “He spent his life manipulating people. He
convinced people they could trust him with their children.” Ralicki expects she
will be called to testify at an upcoming Jimmy Ryce hearing. She says she has no
doubt that Toward still poses a threat to children. She can never forget what he
did to the 20 or so children she treated….Williams pleaded no contest to sex and
attempted kidnapping charges involving five boys, and was released from prison in
1993 after serving five years of a 10-year sentence. She could not be reached for
comment, but is listed in records as owning a home in Vero Beach….
The psychotherapist Jeanne Ralicki, who treated many of the victims stated
“There’s this whole underbelly of evil here that just oozes…Who wants to think
that that exists in the world?”
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/

Little Rascals Day Care Center case

(describes crimes)

Closing Arguments in Child-Abuse Trial By Ronald Smothers, 3/24/1992 New York

Times – Calling the operator of a day-care center who is the defendant in a child
sex-abuse case an “evil, evil man,” the prosecution in the eight-month-long case
began closing arguments today, painstakingly recalling children’s testimony that
jurors had not heard since September…. Mr. Kelly, 43 years old, is facing 100
charges of sexually abusing a dozen children in 1988 and 1989 at the Little
Rascals Day Care Center in Edenton, N. C., 60 miles east of here. Originally there
were 248 charges involving 22 children, but the prosecution has withdrawn many
charges while Judge D. Marsh McLelland of Pitt County Superior Court has dismissed
others. Six Others Charged – Still, the case remains one of the largest child sex-
abuse cases in the nation’s history in terms of number of charges and alleged
victims. The case also involves charges against Mr. Kelly’s wife, Elizabeth, three
adult employees of the center and two other adults. All have been accused of
fondling, raping and sodomizing the children at the center….Testifying on his own
behalf in January, Mr. Kelly said he never touched any of the children in a sexual
way….Using 8-by-10-inch color photographs of each of the dozen children who
testified, Mrs. Lamb recounted their own childish words in testifying about what
“Mr. Bob” did to them. The words, which were children’s euphemisms for sex organs
and body parts, seemed incongruous coming from the adult prosecutor, but with
repetition even that incongruity served to highlight the horror of the
allegations. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/24/us/closing-arguments-in-child-
abuse-trial.html

Man convicted in N.C. child sex abuse case M. Mayfield 4/23/92 USA TODAY In April
1992, “Robert Kelly Jr. was convicted of 99 of 100 counts of rape and related
crimes against children.” One of the mothers of the 12 children that testified
against Kelly stated that she felt “overwhelming relief.” The six other
defendants, including Kelly’s wife, would face trials later. The jury believed the
children on the witness stand. One juror stated “the children were convincing.”
Kelly and his supporters believed he was innocent. He was sentenced to 12
consecutive life terms in prison. The trial “included 83 prosecution witnesses and
60 defense witnesses.” The children had testified that Kelly had forced them to
have different types of sex. The parents testified that the children exhibited
abnormal behavior. “Twelve children, between the ages of 4 and 7, testified, and
the results of physical and psychological tests of them were presented as
evidence.”

Child Abuse Conviction in Day Care Case; N.C. Man Was Subject of Sympathetic
Documentary – The Washington Post – April 23, 1992- Megan Rosenfeld ” North
Carolina’s longest and most expensive trial came to a close yesterday with the
conviction of former child-care center operator Robert Kelly on 99 of 100 charges
of sexually abusing 12 children. Kelly’s wife, Betsy, and five other people are
also charged with abusing children at the Little Rascals Day Care Center, but have
yet to stand trial. Kelly’s trial, which started in August, included 83
prosecution witnesses and 60 defense witnesses. In the end, juror Dennis Ray told
the Associated Press, “the children were convincing.” Twelve children, between the
ages of 4 and 7, testified, and the results of physical and psychological tests of
them were presented as evidence.” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1002268.html

Day-Care Owner Is Convicted of Child Molesting 4/23/92 The longest and costliest
criminal trial ever held in North Carolina ended today when the owner of a day-
care center was convicted on 99 of 100 charges of sexually abusing 12 children
there. After 14 days of deliberating, a Pitt County Superior Court jury found the
44-year-old defendant, Robert F. Kelly Jr., guilty of 4 counts of rape, 46 of
taking indecent liberties, 36 of first-degree sexual offense and 13 crimes against
nature. He was acquitted only of a single charge of taking indecent liberties with
one of the 12 children….one juror, Dennis Ray, did speak to reporters, saying the
panel had rejected the defense’s assertion of widespread hysteria and had believed
the children. “The children were convincing,” Mr. Ray said.
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/23/us/day-care-owner-is-convicted-of-child-
molesting.html

Six months after Betsy’s release, the Appellate Court of North Carolina overturned
the convictions of both Robert Kelly and Dawn Wilson, stating that there were
legal errors by the prosecution. On May 23, 1997, the prosecution dropped all
charges related to the Little Rascals case against the two.

Fran’s Day Care Case – Randy Noblitt, PhD

http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/frans-day-care/

Baran case

Baran received a fair trial By William W. Simons – Pittsfield 9/13/03 “I have

spent my professional life (going on 50 years) as a prosecutor, defense lawyer and
Superior Court judge….I was the presiding judge in the Superior Court trial of
Bernard Baran that took place in Pittsfield, extending for 10 days in January
1985. Baran was charged with rape and indecent assault and battery on six children
while he was a child-care worker in a Pittsfield day care center. He was
originally represented by the Public Defender’s Office but chose to obtain private
counsel, Leonard Conway of Westfield. After his conviction on these cases
involving five of the children, an appeal was taken on Baran’s behalf by Attorney
David O. Burbank of Pittsfield, also an experienced and able trial and appellate
counsel. The appeal was decided on March 27, 1986, affirming the convictions. Mr.
Burbank sought further appellate review and that application was denied by the
Supreme Judicial Court on May 30, 1986….The concern that young victims are prone
to suggestibility pales in comparison to the suggestibility of grown and
experienced newspapermen. A more serious injury is that distorted claims of
injustice that seek freedom for Baran are not without consequences for society and
this community, should they succeed.” http://www.berkshireeagle.com/

also see: http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/ctf/bib.html

Halsey case

The Legend of Robert Halsey – Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, v9 n3-4 p37-52 2001 –
Cheit, Ross E. Abstract: A brief narrative description of the journal article,
document, or resource. Examines the criminal conviction of Robert Halsey for
sexually abusing two young boys on his school-van route near Pittsfield,
Massachusetts. Based on a comprehensive examination of the trial transcript,
suggests that the credulous acceptance of the “false conviction” legend about
Robert Halsey provides a case study in the techniques and tactics used to minimize
and deny sexual abuse.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?
_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ672707&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&ac
cno=EJ672707

False-conviction chic in the Berkshires

Robert Halsey was convicted in 1993 of sexually abusing two boys on his school van
route in Lanesboro, Mass. There was a mountain of evidence against him, and he was
sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Now a growing movement is trying to
suggest that Halsey was unjustly convicted. A country that cherishes the
presumption of innocence still needs to learn something about the presumption of
guilt. There is a dark side to the growing movement on behalf of persons falsely
convicted by the criminal justice system: phony false-conviction claims. There is
just such a phony claim currently brewing in the Berkshires….As long-time
residents of the Berkshires will remember, Robert Halsey was convicted in 1993 of
sexually abusing two boys on his school van route in Lanesboro, Mass. There was a
mountain of evidence against him. The two boys…had clear medical signs of the
abuse. Their disclosures were extremely detailed and they were written up well
before the boys were involved in any repeat interviews, therapy sessions or other
measures which are commonly cited as sources of “child suggestibility.”….Various
parts of the boys’ testimony were corroborated by three other children, two of
whom had moved to Florida nine months before Halsey was arrested.
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2002-03/02-009.html

The Legend of Robert Halsey: A cautionary tale about the dangers of “false-
conviction chic”
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Manning/

These articles describe graphic crimes of abuse

West Memphis 3 confession, witness corroboration and physical evidence

Death Penalty Recommended for Teen-Ager March 20, 1994 …Prosecutors presented
evidence suggesting Mr. Echols was a devil worshipper and the younger teen-ager
his loyal follower. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/20/us/death-penalty-
recommended-for-teen-ager.html?scp=18&sq=west+memphis+3+murder+case&st=nyt

Youth Is Convicted In Slaying of 3 Boys In an Arkansas City CORNING, Ark., Feb. 4

The teen-ager, Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 18, was found guilty of first-degree
murder in the death of a boy whom he had admitted chasing down. He was convicted
of second-degree murder in the deaths of the other two boys….Mr. Misskelley told
the police in two tape-recorded interviews that he had watched as his two friends
beat the boys, raped two of them and castrated one. The prosecution said the
slayings might have been part of a Satanic ritual.
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/05/us/youth-is-convicted-in-slaying-of-3-boys-in-
an-arkansas-city.html?scp=11&sq=west+memphis+3+murder+case&st=nyt

Jessie Lloyd MISSKELLEY, Jr. v. STATE of Arkansas CR 94-848 S.W.2d Supreme Court
of Arkansas Opinion delivered February 19, 1996

On June 3, 1993, the crime having remained unsolved, Detective Sergeant Mike Allen
sought the appellant out for questioning. The appellant was not considered a
suspect, but it was thought he might have knowledge about Damien Echols, who was a
suspect. Detective Allen located the appellant and brought him back to the
station, arriving at approximately 10:00 a.m. Later in this opinion, we will
address in detail the circumstances surrounding the appellant’s interrogation. For
now, it is sufficient to say that the appellant was questioned off and on over a
period from 10:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. At 2:44 p.m. and again at approximately
5:00 p.m., he gave statements to police in which he confessed his involvement in
the murders. Both statements were tape-recorded….

In the early morning hours of May 5, 1993, the appellant received a phone call
from Jason Baldwin. Baldwin asked the appellant to accompany him and Damien Echols
to the Robin Hood area. The appellant agreed to go. They went to the area, which
has a creek, and were in the creek when the victims rode up on their bicycles.
Baldwin and Echols called to the boys, who came to the creek. The boys were
severely beaten by Baldwin and Echols. At least two of the boys were raped and
forced to perform oral sex on Baldwin and Echols. According to appellant, he was
merely an observer.

While these events were taking place, Michael Moore tried to escape and began
running. The appellant chased him down and returned him to Baldwin and Echols. The
appellant also stated that Baldwin had used a knife to cut the boys in the facial
area and that the Byers boy was cut on his penis. Echols used a large stick to hit
one of the boys. All three boys had their clothes taken off and were tied up….
The appellant was asked about his involvement in a cult. He said he had been
involved for about three months. The participants would typically meet in the
woods. They engaged in orgies and, as an initiation rite, killing and eating dogs.
He noted that at one cult meeting, he saw a picture that Echols had taken of the
three boys. He stated that Echols had been watching the boys….

Damien Echols was observed near the crime scene at 9:30 p.m. on May 5. He was
wearing black pants and a black shirt and his clothes were muddy. A witness
testified that she had attended a satanic cult meeting with Echols and the
appellant….a witness from the State Crime Lab testified that she found fibers on
the victims’ clothing which were microscopically similar to items in the Baldwin
and Echols residences. http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/1996/cr94-848.html

Damien Wayne ECHOLS and Charles Jason Baldwin v. STATE of Arkansas CR 94-928
S.W.2d Supreme Court of Arkansas Opinion delivered December 23, 1996

Where two witnesses testified that they overheard appellant Echols state that he
killed the three boys, this was direct evidence; a confession is sufficient to
sustain a conviction if it is accompanied by other proof that the offense was
committed by someone….

There was substantial evidence of the guilt of appellant Echols where, among other
things, the testimony of witnesses placed him in dirty clothes near the crime
scene at a time close to the murders; where two independent witnesses reported
Echols’s statement that he had killed the three boys and was direct evidence of
the statement; where a criminalist from the State Crime Laboratory and a State
Medical Examiner testified concerning the similarity of fibers found on the
victim’s clothes with clothing found in Echols’s home and the serrated wound
patterns on the three victims that were consistent with, and could have been
caused by, a knife found in a lake behind appellant Baldwin’s parents’ residence….

Echols admitted on cross-examination that he had delved deeply into the occult and
was familiar with its practices and where various items that had been found in his
room supported the State’s theory of motive that the killings were done in a
satanic ritual; where an expert in occult killings testified that there was
significant evidence of satanic ritual killings; where a detective testified that
Echols had made a statement regarding the mutilation of one of the victims that
the jury could have reasonably concluded he would not have known about unless he
had been involved in some manner; and where Echols’s testimony contained
additional evidence of guilt….

Echols admitted on cross-examination in the penalty phase of the trial that he had
an altercation with his father in which a knife was involved and the police were
called; where he admitted that he was hospitalized that same day and that when his
father came to the hospital, “I told him I would eat him alive”; where headmitted
that he tried “to claw the eyes out” of a student; and where a psychologist who
testified for Echols admitted that Echols had “an all-powerful God-like image of
himself,” that his parents were concerned with his satanism or devil worship, and
that Echols’s medical records included notations of statements by Echols
pertaining, among other things, to his rage and the drinking of the blood of
others….
Where one witness testified that appellant Baldwin had told him that he had
dismembered one of the boys, sucked the blood from his penis and scrotum, and put
the testicles in his mouth, and where an expert on ritual killings stated that one
of the facts that led him to believe that the killings were cult-related was that
one of the victims had been castrated and had had the blood sucked from his penis,
there was sufficient evidence of appellant Baldwin’s participation in occult
activities, and the trial court correctly allowed the evidence….

Twelve-year-old Christy VanVickle testified that she heard Echols say he “killed
the three boys.” Fifteen-year-old Jackie Medford testified that she heard Echols
say, “I killed the three little boys and before I turn myself in, I’m going to
kill two more, and I already have one of them picked out.” The testimony of these
two independent witnesses was direct evidence of the statement by Echols….

Dr. Dale Griffis, an expert in occult killings, testified in the State’s case-in-
chief that the killings had the “trappings of occultism.” He testified that the
date of the killings, near a pagan holiday, was significant, as well as the fact
that there was a full moon. He stated that young children are often sought for
sacrifice because “the younger, the more innocent, the better the life force.” He
testified that there were three victims, and the number three had significance in
occultism. Also, the victims were all eight years old, and eight is a witches’
number. He testified that sacrifices are often done near water for a baptism-type
rite or just to wash the blood away. The fact that the victims were tied ankle to
wrist was significant because this was done to display the genitalia, and the
removal of Byers’s testicles was significant because testicles are removed for the
semen. He stated that the absence of blood at the scene could be significant
because cult members store blood for future services in which they would drink the
blood or bathe in it. He testified that the “overkill” or multiple cuts could
reflect occult overtones. Dr. Griffis testified that there was significance in
injuries to the left side of the victims as distinguished from the right side:
People who practice occultism will use the midline theory, drawing straight down
through the body. The right side is related to those things synonymous with
Christianity while the left side is that of the practitioners of the satanic
occult. He testified that the clear place on the bank could be consistent with a
ceremony. In sum, Dr. Griffis testified there was significant evidence of satanic
ritual killings….

Echols took the witness stand, and his testimony contained additional evidence of
guilt. When asked about his statement that one victim was mutilated more than the
others, he said he learned the fact from newspaper accounts. His attorney showed
him the newspaper articles about the murders. On cross-examination, Echols
admitted that the articles did not mention one victim being mutilated more than
the others, and he admitted that he did not read such a fact in a newspaper….

Jason Baldwin does not contend that there was insufficient evidence of his guilt.
This is, perhaps, in part, because of the testimony of Michael Carson, who
testified that he talked to Baldwin about the murders. Carson’s testimony, in
pertinent part, was abstracted as follows:

I said, just between me and you, did you do it. I won’t say a word. He said yes
and he went into detail about it. It was just me and Jason [Baldwin]. He told me
he dismembered the kids, or I don’t know exactly how many kids. He just said he
dismembered them. He sucked the blood from the penis and scrotum and put the balls
in his mouth. http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/1996a/961223sc/cr94-928.html