AP: Controversial ‘80s Maplewood Sex Abuse Case Referenced

A recent Associated Press article questions whether lessons from past mistakes in child molestation cases are being heeded. The article cites the 1985 conviction of Margaret Kelly Michaels, who was indicted for 299 offenses involving 33 children at the Wee Care Nursery School in Maplewood, NJ.

As the AP reports, “After [Michaels] spent five years in prison, her 47-year sentence was overturned. The state Supreme Court said interviews conducted with the children were coercive, suggestive and highly improper.”

Overturning the case was a landmark case that brought to light the underlying problems behind then-current methods of investigating sexual abuse accusations. The AP story suggests that reforms in those investigations, particularly with regards to the way children are interviewed in such cases, are still needed.

Read the full story: Ritual child sex cases' lessons often unlearned

For more information on the Wee Care Nursery School Case and Margaret Kelly Michaels, click here.