![\"140618Murphy\"](\"http:\/\/www.littlerascalsdaycarecase.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/140618Murphy.jpg\")
June 18, 2014<\/p>\nJune 18, 2014<\/p>\n
\u201cI was disappointed to see that one of the most celebrated cases of this time was mentioned in\u00a0(Ross Cheit\u2019s) book<\/a>\u00a0but not analyzed. The Little Rascals case from Edenton, N.C., was the focus of a documentary by well-known filmmaker Ofra Bikel, whose reputation was challenged by her film, \u2018Innocence Lost.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBikel opined that the owners of the Little Rascals Day Care center were railroaded by children who made wildly incredible claims. For example, Bikel showcased the testimony of a little girl who said she\u2019d been molested on a spaceship. When asked on cross-examination whether the spaceship was \u2018real,\u2019 the child said \u2018yes.\u2019 Bikel omitted crucial context on that. On re-direct examination about the spaceship the little girl explained that the day care center had taken the kids to a carnival and that the child had been molested on one of the spaceship rides.<\/p>\n \u201cThat particular story isn\u2019t in this book, but it is packed with many like it. Even the most skeptical reader will find it difficult to deny that they were snookered by the media coverage to some extent, which means someone owes an awful lot of abused children an apology.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 From\u00a0<\/em>\u201c \u2018Witchhunt Narrative\u2019 Retells ’80s Day Care Abuse\u201d<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Wendy Murphy at WeNews (May 23, 2014)<\/em><\/p>\n If you know Wendy Murphy from her frequent appearances on cable news channels, variously labeled as \u201clegal expert,\u201d \u201cformer sex crimes prosecutor\u201d or \u201cvictims advocate,\u201d then you aren\u2019t surprised to see her so confidently weigh in on Cheit\u2019s book. Neither are you surprised to see her so casually disdain the facts of the case. Take, for instance, her analysis of the Duke lacrosse case: \u201cI never, ever met a false rape claim, by the way. My own statistics speak to the truth.”<\/p>\n See also\u00a0\u201cWhy Cable News Never Punishes Liars\u201d<\/a>\u00a0by Alex Pareene at Salon (Aug 12, 2010) and\u00a0\u201cThe Wendy Murphy File\u201d<\/a>at Durham-in-Wonderland (Dec. 31, 2006).<\/p>\n