STORY: "Like Salem's 'witches,' it's time for NC (North Carolina) to exonerate the Edenton Seven," by reporter Lew Powell, published by the News and Observer on january 18, 2014. (Lew Powell, a former Charlotte Observer reporter and editor, blogs at littlerascalsdaycarecase.org.)
GIST: "Twenty-five years ago Sunday, a child-abuse complaint filed with the Department of Social Services in Edenton ignited what would become the state’s longest, costliest and surely most bizarre criminal trial. Bob Kelly, co-owner of the Little Rascals Day Care Center, and six other innocent defendants fell victim to an ad hoc conspiracy of hysterical parents, ill-trained therapists and malicious prosecutors. ........Claude Sitton was editor of The News & Observer from 1970 to 1990. “When I look back,” he told an oral history interviewer in 2007, “I think my greatest mistake [was] my failure ... to make sure we had a top-notch investigative reporter on the Little Rascals case. ... I think had we sent someone like Pat Stith down there, that would have been it. “That prosecutor had gone wild, eaten up by ambition, I suppose, to hang these people, these people who operated the Little Rascals Day Care Center, no matter how. As it turned out, [the Edenton Seven were eventually released], but it wrecked their lives forever. And I still feel sorry about that.” Unlike Sitton, the state of North Carolina seems remorseless. Eighteen months ago I petitioned Attorney General Roy Cooper to issue a statement of innocence for the Edenton Seven. “The Little Rascals case not only shattered the lives of the defendants,” my letter argued, “but also left a deep and ugly stain on the reputation of the State of North Carolina. “In 2001 Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift signed a resolution proclaiming the innocence of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials. In time, such victims of the ritual-abuse day-care panic as the Edenton Seven will surely receive similar exoneration. Why not now? Why not in North Carolina? This is an opportunity to demonstrate moral leadership on a national scale.” Cooper has yet to respond."
GIST: "Twenty-five years ago Sunday, a child-abuse complaint filed with the Department of Social Services in Edenton ignited what would become the state’s longest, costliest and surely most bizarre criminal trial. Bob Kelly, co-owner of the Little Rascals Day Care Center, and six other innocent defendants fell victim to an ad hoc conspiracy of hysterical parents, ill-trained therapists and malicious prosecutors. ........Claude Sitton was editor of The News & Observer from 1970 to 1990. “When I look back,” he told an oral history interviewer in 2007, “I think my greatest mistake [was] my failure ... to make sure we had a top-notch investigative reporter on the Little Rascals case. ... I think had we sent someone like Pat Stith down there, that would have been it. “That prosecutor had gone wild, eaten up by ambition, I suppose, to hang these people, these people who operated the Little Rascals Day Care Center, no matter how. As it turned out, [the Edenton Seven were eventually released], but it wrecked their lives forever. And I still feel sorry about that.” Unlike Sitton, the state of North Carolina seems remorseless. Eighteen months ago I petitioned Attorney General Roy Cooper to issue a statement of innocence for the Edenton Seven. “The Little Rascals case not only shattered the lives of the defendants,” my letter argued, “but also left a deep and ugly stain on the reputation of the State of North Carolina. “In 2001 Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift signed a resolution proclaiming the innocence of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials. In time, such victims of the ritual-abuse day-care panic as the Edenton Seven will surely receive similar exoneration. Why not now? Why not in North Carolina? This is an opportunity to demonstrate moral leadership on a national scale.” Cooper has yet to respond."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/18/3541972/like-salem-witches-edenton-seven.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com
