25 years ago: Edenton Little Rascals

[DownEastDeac]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rascals_day_care_sexual_abuse_trial

Anybody have a personal connection or knowledge of what really happened here? At the time this story was too far-reaching and bizarre to be true in my opinion (and that of many others). I always figured that while most of the small children may not remember years later what "happened" when they were 3-4 years old, they might recall their parents and prosecutors trying to convince them when they were 6-7 years old of what to say took place prior to the trials. I read an article yesterday by a reporter who said this thing was 100% a witch-hunt, and 25 years later it's time to pardon everyone involved (all were released from prison years ago). The kids involved would all be around 30 today and their parents approaching sixty. Would be interesting to know if this thing is buried forever in that small community or if it is still on the surface.

 

[scooter84]

I read an article recently about the series of similar incidents around the country over a similar period of time. It was a really weird phenomenon, bordering on mass hysteria that reached across the country.

 

[HailToTheDeacons]

I think someone has linked to the main wiki article recently. Weird stuff.

 

[BobStackFan4Life]

I think Frontline did a story about this back in the day and it just seemed unbelievably shameful- a huge miscarriage of justice. Back in the 80s there was this whole "Satanic Panic" thing going on and a number of innocent teachers and daycare workers got caught up in it.

 

[tigerswood]

I have quite a few family members that live in Edenton, and have never heard about this until now. Odd. Seems as though it may have simply been the result of mass hysteria/groupthink. Very strange situation.

 

[marquee moon]

http://www.freebaran.org/

 

[marquee moon]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_care_sex_abuse_hysteria

 

[Say Hey Deac]

I read an article recently about the series of similar incidents around the country over a similar period of time. It was a really weird phenomenon, bordering on mass hysteria that reached across the country.

Maybe you're thinking about this article from a couple weeks back:

http://www.slate.com/articles/healt...the_last_victims_of_satanic_ritual_abuse.html

That led to a pretty interesting discussion on the CT where we all agreed that Satan gets an unfair rap and that Satanism is actually something most of us should just openly embrace, since we're all basically Satanists whether we recognize it or not. Dashionista was especially open to adopting Satanism as a new personal ethos.