Rascals case in brief
In the beginning, in 1989, more than 90 children at the Little Rascals Day Care Center in Edenton, North Carolina, accused a total of 20 adults with 429 instances of sexual abuse over a three-year period. It may have all begun with one parent’s complaint about punishment given her child.
Among the alleged perpetrators: the sheriff and mayor. But prosecutors would charge only Robin Byrum, Darlene Harris, Elizabeth “Betsy” Kelly, Robert “Bob” Kelly, Willard Scott Privott, Shelley Stone and Dawn Wilson – the Edenton 7.
Along with sodomy and beatings, allegations included a baby killed with a handgun, a child being hung upside down from a tree and being set on fire and countless other fantastic incidents involving spaceships, hot air balloons, pirate ships and trained sharks.
By the time prosecutors dropped the last charges in 1997, Little Rascals had become North Carolina’s longest and most costly criminal trial. Prosecutors kept defendants jailed in hopes at least one would turn against their supposed co-conspirators. Remarkably, none did. Another shameful record: Five defendants had to wait longer to face their accusers in court than anyone else in North Carolina history.
Between 1991 and 1997, Ofra Bikel produced three extraordinary episodes on the Little Rascals case for the PBS series “Frontline.” Although “Innocence Lost” did not deter prosecutors, it exposed their tactics and fostered nationwide skepticism and dismay.
With each passing year, the absurdity of the Little Rascals charges has become more obvious. But no admission of error has ever come from prosecutors, police, interviewers or parents. This site is devoted to the issues raised by this case.
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Little Rascals Day Care Case
This Facebook page is an offshoot of littlerascalsdaycarecase.org, which addresses the wrongful prosecution of the Edenton Seven and other such victims.
Meanwhile in Edenton....
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Allies for our cause!
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The courts have a long history of capriciously pulling the rug out from under Junior's appeals, but maybe this time....
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Today’s random selection from the Little Rascals Day Care archives….
Remember when ‘ritual abuse’ was a hot topic?
Aug. 19, 2013
A brief visual aside, courtesy of the Google books Ngram Viewer:
However much frustration I feel in pursuing exoneration for the Edenton Seven – plenty! – I do take some reassurance in watching the ritual abuse moral panic slowly lose its hold on public discourse, as shown in the Ngram above or here.
Still waiting for that ‘huge mea culpa’
Sept. 6, 2013
“The day-care trials couldn’t have happened without the active participation of social workers and therapists. Police authorities relied on the therapists to interpret what the child witnesses were saying, to interview the children and to counsel them about their alleged experiences. One might suppose that the realization that:
- People have been sent to prison for years for crimes that never happened;
- Children had been abused, not by the accused, but by misguided therapists who implanted false memories;
would have created a huge mea culpa among the professionals involved. This hasn’t happened.
“Some have defended their actions, if not the results, on the basis that their hearts were in the right place. Some have excused themselves on the basis that nobody knew any better – that, by golly, nobody could have guessed that rewarding children for making accusations, and questioning them until they did make accusations, might just lead to false accusations.
“And they speak, in self-pitying tones, about the ‘backlash’ – the (presumably) undeserved and irrational criticism that is flung their way.”
– From “The ‘Ritual Abuse’ Panic” at Imaginary Crimes
Mum’s still the word from the prosecution therapists in the Little Rascals case, except for Judy Abbott’s resentful response to the “backlash.”
Defending Betsy Kelly? Prepare to be stalked
Sept. 18, 2013
“Joseph B. Cheshire V, Betsy Kelly’s attorney, says the believers in town remain so hostile to the heretics who profess any disbelief over the charges that he no longer feels comfortable vacationing at nearby Nags Head. ‘Good,’ says one prominent Little Rascals father. ‘I almost killed myself last summer running that extra distance past his house, just so he’d know that I knew he was there.’ ”
– From “The Demons of Edenton” by Lisa Scheer and Edward Cone in Elle magazine (November 1993) Download article here
“During (the Little Rascals case), Cheshire was the victim of assaults and for a time wore a bullet-proof vest.”
– From “Nationally known criminal defense attorney Joe Cheshire (’73) talks about his colorful career” by John Trump at Wake Forest University School of Law (April 5, 2010)
Nancy Lamb goes mum but ‘has the most to answer for’
March 7, 2012
“The one voice we most want to hear is that of Assistant District Attorney Nancy Lamb, who went after the Little Rascals defendants with the righteousness of an avenging angel.
“In refusing to speak with ‘Frontline,’ Lamb’s silence is devastating. She has the most to answer for.”
– Michael Blowen of the Boston Globe, reviewing “Innocence Lost: The Verdict”