Martha Coakley has powerful enemies (Martha Coakley and Modern Witch Hunting - Ritualistic Child Sexual Abuse). At one time she was Chief of a Child Abuse Prosecution Unit. Martha Coakley, Massachusetts Attorney General, was the loser in the special election to replace Senator Ted Kennedy.
Before she became Attorney General, Coakley was involved in the Fells Acres case.
This case led to the conviction of three members of the Amirault family: mother, daughter, and son Gerald.
Gerald Amirault was convicted in 1986 of molesting and raping eight children at the Fells Acres Day Care Center in Malden, Massachusetts, run by his family.
In 2001, Coakley successfully lobbied Governor Jane Swift to deny clemency to Gerald Amirault. (Martha Coakley )
In 2005, a police officer, Keith Winfield, raped his 23-month-old niece with a hot object, 'most likely a curling iron'. ("Some Saw Coakley as lax on '05 rape case".)
A grand jury, overseen by Martha Coakley, then the district attorney, investigated.
It took no action.
The toddler's mother filed applications for criminal complaints.
Coakley then won grand jury indictments.
Nearly 10 months after the crime, Coakley’s office recommended that Winfield be released on bail.
He remained free until December 2007, when Coakley’s successor as district attorney won a conviction and two life terms.
Coakley later defended her actions in this case, saying she acted appropriately given the evidence that was available at the time.
The victim's family decided to encourage their lawyer to run against Coakley in the next election, and they lost. (Martha Coakley )
Getting evidence from young children is a problem.
In 1985, a nurse took the temperature of a 4-year-old boy with a rectal thermometer and the boy said: "That's what my teacher does to me at nap time at school." (Wee Care Nursery School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )
The children at the Wee Care Nursery School were questioned.
Margaret Kelly Michaels was put on trial.
Prosecution witnesses testified that the children "had regressed into such behavior as bed-wetting and defecating in their clothing. The witnesses said the children became afraid to be left alone or to stay in the dark. They also testified that the children exhibited knowledge of sexual behavior far beyond their years."
Some of the other teachers testified against Kelly Michaels.
Kelly Michaels was indicted for 299 offenses in connection with the sexual assault of 33 children.
The Wee Care Nursery School was in New Jersey and was one of many day care child abuse cases that went to trial in the 1980s.
"Though initially successful in its prosecution of Margaret Kelly Michaels, the decision was overturned after five years in prison, on the basis of improper and coercive interviewing of the children involved.
"They had been the sole witnesses, their testimony being offered as the only sources of evidence during the trial."
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2 comments:
Amirault was found guilty and this verdict was upheld several times by both political parties. There were physical findings of abuse in the children and the children showed signs of strong sexualized behaviors after the abuse. The children as adults continue to state they were abused.
Letters to the Editor: The Real Darkness Is Child Abuse WALL STREET JOURNAL 02/24/95 Hardoon
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….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....The victims and their families in these cases have been irrevocably harmed by what was done to them by the Amiraults.....Justice was done.
Swift won’t free Tooky by David R. Guarino and Elisabeth J. Beardsley 2/20/02 Swift said Amirault should be jailed at least until he’s up for parole in 2004 on his 30- to 40-year sentence. "She carefully analyzed every bit of information generated through the investigation and came to her decision that the verdict was just and the sentence was appropriate.
COMMONWEALTH vs. GERALD AMIRAULT. 404 Mass. 221 December 6, 1988 – March 6, 1989 "The parents of the child witnesses testified about their children’s behavior while, or shortly after, attending Fells Acres. The children complained and cried about the school; they complained of stomachaches, headaches, pain in their genital areas, and bowel problems. They began bedwetting, lost their appetites, had nightmares, used baby talk, became fearful of lights, of men, and of being left alone. The children also displayed sexually explicit behavior; some began masturbating. Two of the boys tried to stick their tongues into their mothers’ mouths."
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