Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 30, 1995 TAG: 9508300078
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GLEN JOHNSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
One by one they are falling apart, the sensational court cases of the 1980s built on lurid allegations of mass child-molestation at day-care centers.
First it was the McMartin Preschool case in Los Angeles, then the Kelly Michaels case in New Jersey. On Tuesday, a judge in Massachusetts granted a new trial for two people convicted of molesting children eight years ago.
The cases toppled for different reasons. In the latest, the judge said the defendants were denied their right to face their accusers because some of the children were allowed to testify with their backs to the courtroom.
But the common thread was doubt about the veracity of testimony from children who were under pressure to talk to parents, psychiatrists and prosecutors at a time when fears of abuse were sweeping the country.
``There's no doubt that in the mid-80s, there was national attention paid to child abuse, sexual abuse, spousal abuse. And in the case of child abuse, there was an array of prosecutions based on child reports, and many of them went to mush,'' said Arthur Miller, a Harvard Law School professor and legal consultant to ABC's ``Good Morning America.''
Referring to the Massachusetts ruling, he said, ``I think it represents a recognition that you've got to balance the rights of the accused very carefully against the rights of the children not to be inflicted with more trauma.''
Given the perspective of time, judges and juries have questioned whether the children's traumatic recollections of abuse really happened or were planted in their heads by adults.
``Very often people can plant these memories into people's minds,'' said Jack Demick, chairman of psychology at Suffolk University and an expert in developmental psychology.
In the Massachusetts case decided Tuesday, some children spoke of being abused by a clown in a ``magic room,'' while others said they were hung naked from a tree or watched a teacher dismember animals.
Violet Amirault, her daughter Cheryl Amirault LeFave and her son Gerald ``Tooky'' Amirault were convicted in 1986 and 1987 of sexually molesting 40 boys and girls ages 3 to 6 at their Fells Acres Day School in suburban Malden.
The Amiraults argued that police and prosecution experts planted the allegations through suggestive questioning, but Superior Court Judge Robert A. Barton ordered a new trial only on the issue of facing accusers, following a precedent set by Massachusetts' highest court in April.
Prosecutors immediately said they would appeal.
``It's a very narrow legal technicality and it doesn't affect the basic truth of this case,'' Middlesex County District Attorney Thomas Reilly said.
After more than eight years in prison, the Amirault women could be released after a bail hearing Thursday. Gerald Amirault, who was tried separately, is waiting for a judge to hear a similar appeal.
``You just can't imagine freedom after being denied it so long,'' Cheryl Amirault said at a prison news conference. ``This is a glorious day for us.''
by CNB