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Wee Care Nursery School abuse trial

April 10, 2024

Wee Care Nursery School, located in Maplewood, New Jersey, was the subject of a day care child abuse case that was tried during the 1980s.[1][2] Although Margaret Kelly Michaels was prosecuted and convicted, the decision was reversed after she spent five years in prison. An appellate court ruled that several features of the original trial had produced an unjust ruling and the conviction was reversed.[3] The case was studied by several psychologists who were concerned about the interrogation methods used and the quality of the children's testimony in the case.[4] This resulted in research concerning the topic of children's memory and suggestibility, resulting in new recommendations for performing interviews with child victims and witnesses.[5][6]

Accusation edit

In April 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." The comment was reported to the local authorities, and all the children at the Wee Care Nursery School were questioned.[7] Social workers and therapists collected testimony from 51 children from the day care center. During the interviews, children made accusations such as that Michaels forced them to lick peanut butter off of her genitals, that she penetrated their rectums and vaginas with knives, forks and other objects, that she forced them to eat cakes made from human excrement and that she made them play duck, duck, goose while naked. Michaels was indicted for 235 counts of sexual offenses with children and youths.[3] She denied the charges.[8]

Upon conviction, when asked whether they actually believed some of the more sordid claims from the children, prosecutors Glenn Goldberg and Sara McArdle answered "No" and "Oh, absolutely" simultaneously.[9] But when journalist Dorothy Rabinowitz asked about some of these bizarre elements, such as knives that left no scars, Goldberg replied, "What is there left to know? The jury has spoken. She's convicted."[10]

Trial edit

The trial began on June 22, 1987.[3] "The prosecution produced expert witnesses who said that almost all the children displayed symptoms of sexual abuse."[11] 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."[11] Some of the other teachers testified against her.[11] The defense argued that Michaels had not had the opportunity to take the children to a location where all of the alleged activities could have taken place without being noticed.[11] The jury was not shown the transcripts of the interrogations of the children that produced the accusations.[10]

After nine months, the case went to the jury for deliberation. At that time, 131 counts remained, including charges of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, endangering the welfare of children, and making terroristic threats. The jury deliberated for 12 days before Michaels was convicted of 115 counts of sexual offenses involving 20 children.[3][12]

On August 2, 1988, Michaels was sentenced to 47 years in prison, with no possibility for parole for the first 14 years.[3] The judge "said the facts in the case were sordid, bizarre and demeaning to the children."[13] Michaels "told the judge that she was confident her conviction would be overturned on appeal."[13]

Release edit

In March 1993, after five years in prison, Michaels' appeal was successful and she was released.[3] The New Jersey Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision and declared "the interviews of the children were highly improper and utilized coercive and unduly suggestive methods."[14]

A three-judge panel ruled she had been denied a fair trial because "the prosecution of the case had relied on testimony that should have been excluded because it improperly used an expert's theory, called the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome, to establish guilt."[15] In June 1993, the State Supreme Court refused to hear the prosecutor's appeal of the decision.[16] In February 1994, "the court heard arguments...about the admissibility of evidence." [1]

In December 1994, the prosecution dropped the attempt to retry the case "because too many obstacles had been placed in the way of a successful retrial."[17] The major hurdle was that "if the state decided to reprosecute Michaels, it must produce 'clear and convincing evidence' that the statements and testimony elicited by the improper interview techniques are reliable enough to warrant admission."[17][18] "While the Supreme Court stopped short of instructing the prosecutor to drop the case, the court made it clear that it believed the children's testimony would not hold up."[17]

Interrogation methods edit

During Michaels’ appeal, researchers Maggie Bruck and Stephen Ceci prepared an amicus brief regarding the case that pointed out several problems with the children's testimony that was the primary evidence. Some of the issues that were addressed were the role of interviewer bias, repeated questions, peer pressure, and the use of anatomically correct dolls in contaminating the children's testimony. These interview techniques could have led to memory errors or false memories. In addition to the problems with the interviews themselves, the fact that there were no recordings of initial interviews meant that important evidence was missing; therefore, it was not possible to determine the origin of some of the information that children reported (i.e., it could have been suggested to them by interviewers in the early interviews.)[4]

Interviews from the Wee Care Nursery School and McMartin preschool trials were examined as part of a research project on the testimony of children questioned in a highly suggestive manner. Compared with a set of interviews from Child Protective Services, the interviews from the two trials were "significantly more likely to (a) introduce new suggestive information into the interview, (b) provide praise, promises, and positive reinforcement, (c) express disapproval, disbelief, or disagreement with children, (d) exert conformity pressure, and (e) invite children to pretend or speculate about supposed events."[19]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Sullivan, J. (February 4, 1994). "In Retrying Abuse Case, A New Issue". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-21. Just how to prevent fantasy from being presented as fact in sex-abuse cases is facing the New Jersey Supreme Court in the wake of one of the most sensational of the spate of cases involving day-care workers during the 1980's. The court heard arguments today about the admissibility of evidence in the case of Margaret Kelly Michaels, who was convicted of sexually molesting 19 children, many of them 3- and 4-year-olds, during her seven-month employment at Wee Care Nursery in Maplewood. She served 5 years of a 47-year sentence before her conviction was overturned early last year.
  2. ^ "Nightmare at the Day Care: The Wee Care Case". Crime Magazine. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  3. ^ a b c d e f State of New Jersey v. Margaret Kelly Michaels (1993). 264 N.J. Super. 579; 625 A.2d 489
  4. ^ a b Bruck, Maggie; Ceci, Stephen J. (1995). "Amicus brief for the case of state of New Jersey v. Michaels presented by committee of concerned social scientists". Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. 1 (2): 272–322. doi:10.1037/1076-8971.1.2.272.
  5. ^ La Rooy, David. "As the Vatican is confronted by the UN we must remember that the best evidence in child abuse cases will come from the victims themselves". The Independent. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  6. ^ Lamb, M.E.; Orbach, Y.; Hershkowitz, I.; Esplin, P. W.; Horowitz, D. (2007). "A structured forensic interview protocol improves the quality and informativeness of investigative interview with children: A review of research using the NICHD investigative interview protocol". Child Abuse and Neglect. 31 (11–12): 1201–1231. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.03.021. PMC 2180422. PMID 18023872.
  7. ^ "The Kelly Michaels Case". University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  8. ^ Narvaez, A. (February 28, 1988). "Former Day-Care Teacher Denies Sexually Abusing Schoolchildren". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
  9. ^ Rabinowitz, Dorothy (March 27, 2003). . Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2004-12-17.
  10. ^ a b Rabinowitz, Dorothy (April 28, 2003). . Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2004-12-17.
  11. ^ a b c d Narvaez, A. (March 29, 1988). "Legal Arguments End in Jersey Child-Abuse Trial". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-21. Legal arguments in the nine-month trial of a day-care teacher accused of sexually abusing 20 children at a center in Maplewood ended here today.
  12. ^ "Abuser or Abused? : Ruling Triggers Questions over Who's Real Victim in N.J. Molestation Case". Los Angeles Times. 20 April 1993.
  13. ^ a b Rangel, J. (June 3, 1994). "Ex-Preschool Teacher Sentenced to 47 Years in Sex Case in Jersey". New York Times.
  14. ^ Seth Mydans (June 3, 1994). "Prosecutors Rebuked in Molestation Case". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  15. ^ Fiason, F. (March 27, 1993). "Child-Abuse Conviction Of Woman Is Overturned". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
  16. ^ "Court Rejects Bid to Restore Abuse Verdict". New York Times. June 10, 1993. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
  17. ^ a b c Nieves, E. (December 3, 1994). "Prosecutors Drop Charges In Abuse Case From Mid-80's". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-21. Ending one of the most sensational child sex-abuse scandals in the nation, prosecutors today formally dropped their case against Margaret Kelly Michaels, the former day care teacher who spent five years in prison before her 1987 conviction was overturned on appeal last year.
  18. ^ "IPT Journal - "State v. Michaels: A New Jersey Supreme Court Prescription for the Rest of the Country"". www.ipt-forensics.com.
  19. ^ Schreiber, Nadja; Lisa Bellah, Yolanda Martinez, Kristin McLaurin, Renata Stok, Sena Garven and James Wood (2006). "Suggestive interviewing in the McMartin Preschool and Kelly Michaels daycare abuse cases: A case study". Social Influence. 1 (1). Psychology Press: 16–46. doi:10.1080/15534510500361739. S2CID 2322397.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links edit

April 10, 2024
care, nursery, school, abuse, trial, care, nursery, school, located, maplewood, jersey, subject, care, child, abuse, case, that, tried, during, 1980s, although, margaret, kelly, michaels, prosecuted, convicted, decision, reversed, after, spent, five, years, pr. Wee Care Nursery School located in Maplewood New Jersey was the subject of a day care child abuse case that was tried during the 1980s 1 2 Although Margaret Kelly Michaels was prosecuted and convicted the decision was reversed after she spent five years in prison An appellate court ruled that several features of the original trial had produced an unjust ruling and the conviction was reversed 3 The case was studied by several psychologists who were concerned about the interrogation methods used and the quality of the children s testimony in the case 4 This resulted in research concerning the topic of children s memory and suggestibility resulting in new recommendations for performing interviews with child victims and witnesses 5 6 Contents 1 Accusation 2 Trial 3 Release 4 Interrogation methods 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksAccusation editIn April 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 The comment was reported to the local authorities and all the children at the Wee Care Nursery School were questioned 7 Social workers and therapists collected testimony from 51 children from the day care center During the interviews children made accusations such as that Michaels forced them to lick peanut butter off of her genitals that she penetrated their rectums and vaginas with knives forks and other objects that she forced them to eat cakes made from human excrement and that she made them play duck duck goose while naked Michaels was indicted for 235 counts of sexual offenses with children and youths 3 She denied the charges 8 Upon conviction when asked whether they actually believed some of the more sordid claims from the children prosecutors Glenn Goldberg and Sara McArdle answered No and Oh absolutely simultaneously 9 But when journalist Dorothy Rabinowitz asked about some of these bizarre elements such as knives that left no scars Goldberg replied What is there left to know The jury has spoken She s convicted 10 Trial editThe trial began on June 22 1987 3 The prosecution produced expert witnesses who said that almost all the children displayed symptoms of sexual abuse 11 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 11 Some of the other teachers testified against her 11 The defense argued that Michaels had not had the opportunity to take the children to a location where all of the alleged activities could have taken place without being noticed 11 The jury was not shown the transcripts of the interrogations of the children that produced the accusations 10 After nine months the case went to the jury for deliberation At that time 131 counts remained including charges of aggravated sexual assault sexual assault endangering the welfare of children and making terroristic threats The jury deliberated for 12 days before Michaels was convicted of 115 counts of sexual offenses involving 20 children 3 12 On August 2 1988 Michaels was sentenced to 47 years in prison with no possibility for parole for the first 14 years 3 The judge said the facts in the case were sordid bizarre and demeaning to the children 13 Michaels told the judge that she was confident her conviction would be overturned on appeal 13 Release editIn March 1993 after five years in prison Michaels appeal was successful and she was released 3 The New Jersey Supreme Court overturned the lower court s decision and declared the interviews of the children were highly improper and utilized coercive and unduly suggestive methods 14 A three judge panel ruled she had been denied a fair trial because the prosecution of the case had relied on testimony that should have been excluded because it improperly used an expert s theory called the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome to establish guilt 15 In June 1993 the State Supreme Court refused to hear the prosecutor s appeal of the decision 16 In February 1994 the court heard arguments about the admissibility of evidence 1 In December 1994 the prosecution dropped the attempt to retry the case because too many obstacles had been placed in the way of a successful retrial 17 The major hurdle was that if the state decided to reprosecute Michaels it must produce clear and convincing evidence that the statements and testimony elicited by the improper interview techniques are reliable enough to warrant admission 17 18 While the Supreme Court stopped short of instructing the prosecutor to drop the case the court made it clear that it believed the children s testimony would not hold up 17 Interrogation methods editDuring Michaels appeal researchers Maggie Bruck and Stephen Ceci prepared an amicus brief regarding the case that pointed out several problems with the children s testimony that was the primary evidence Some of the issues that were addressed were the role of interviewer bias repeated questions peer pressure and the use of anatomically correct dolls in contaminating the children s testimony These interview techniques could have led to memory errors or false memories In addition to the problems with the interviews themselves the fact that there were no recordings of initial interviews meant that important evidence was missing therefore it was not possible to determine the origin of some of the information that children reported i e it could have been suggested to them by interviewers in the early interviews 4 Interviews from the Wee Care Nursery School and McMartin preschool trials were examined as part of a research project on the testimony of children questioned in a highly suggestive manner Compared with a set of interviews from Child Protective Services the interviews from the two trials were significantly more likely to a introduce new suggestive information into the interview b provide praise promises and positive reinforcement c express disapproval disbelief or disagreement with children d exert conformity pressure and e invite children to pretend or speculate about supposed events 19 See also edit nbsp 1980s portalDay care sexual abuse hysteria List of wrongful convictions in the United StatesReferences edit a b Sullivan J February 4 1994 In Retrying Abuse Case A New Issue New York Times Retrieved 2007 01 21 Just how to prevent fantasy from being presented as fact in sex abuse cases is facing the New Jersey Supreme Court in the wake of one of the most sensational of the spate of cases involving day care workers during the 1980 s The court heard arguments today about the admissibility of evidence in the case of Margaret Kelly Michaels who was convicted of sexually molesting 19 children many of them 3 and 4 year olds during her seven month employment at Wee Care Nursery in Maplewood She served 5 years of a 47 year sentence before her conviction was overturned early last year Nightmare at the Day Care The Wee Care Case Crime Magazine Retrieved 2007 08 21 a b c d e f State of New Jersey v Margaret Kelly Michaels 1993 264 N J Super 579 625 A 2d 489 a b Bruck Maggie Ceci Stephen J 1995 Amicus brief for the case of state of New Jersey v Michaels presented by committee of concerned social scientists Psychology Public Policy and Law 1 2 272 322 doi 10 1037 1076 8971 1 2 272 La Rooy David As the Vatican is confronted by the UN we must remember that the best evidence in child abuse cases will come from the victims themselves The Independent Retrieved 2014 02 08 Lamb M E Orbach Y Hershkowitz I Esplin P W Horowitz D 2007 A structured forensic interview protocol improves the quality and informativeness of investigative interview with children A review of research using the NICHD investigative interview protocol Child Abuse and Neglect 31 11 12 1201 1231 doi 10 1016 j chiabu 2007 03 021 PMC 2180422 PMID 18023872 The Kelly Michaels Case University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law Retrieved 2007 08 26 Narvaez A February 28 1988 Former Day Care Teacher Denies Sexually Abusing Schoolchildren The New York Times Retrieved 2007 01 21 Rabinowitz Dorothy March 27 2003 Epilogue to a Hysteria Did prosecutors really believe their phony child abuse charges Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on 2004 12 17 a b Rabinowitz Dorothy April 28 2003 The Sacrosanct Accusation No questions they told me about phony sex abuse charges I asked anyway Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on 2004 12 17 a b c d Narvaez A March 29 1988 Legal Arguments End in Jersey Child Abuse Trial The New York Times Retrieved 2007 01 21 Legal arguments in the nine month trial of a day care teacher accused of sexually abusing 20 children at a center in Maplewood ended here today Abuser or Abused Ruling Triggers Questions over Who s Real Victim in N J Molestation Case Los Angeles Times 20 April 1993 a b Rangel J June 3 1994 Ex Preschool Teacher Sentenced to 47 Years in Sex Case in Jersey New York Times Seth Mydans June 3 1994 Prosecutors Rebuked in Molestation Case New York Times Retrieved 2007 08 21 Fiason F March 27 1993 Child Abuse Conviction Of Woman Is Overturned The New York Times Retrieved 2007 01 21 Court Rejects Bid to Restore Abuse Verdict New York Times June 10 1993 Retrieved 2007 01 21 a b c Nieves E December 3 1994 Prosecutors Drop Charges In Abuse Case From Mid 80 s New York Times Retrieved 2007 01 21 Ending one of the most sensational child sex abuse scandals in the nation prosecutors today formally dropped their case against Margaret Kelly Michaels the former day care teacher who spent five years in prison before her 1987 conviction was overturned on appeal last year IPT Journal State v Michaels A New Jersey Supreme Court Prescription for the Rest of the Country www ipt forensics com Schreiber Nadja Lisa Bellah Yolanda Martinez Kristin McLaurin Renata Stok Sena Garven and James Wood 2006 Suggestive interviewing in the McMartin Preschool and Kelly Michaels daycare abuse cases A case study Social Influence 1 1 Psychology Press 16 46 doi 10 1080 15534510500361739 S2CID 2322397 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link External links editFrontline Innocence Lost Wee Care Nursery School at the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wee Care Nursery School abuse trial amp oldid 1202497169, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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