MARTHA COAKLEY AND CHILD ABUSE CASES

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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