Gerald Amirault
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Gerald A. "Tooky" Amirault (b. March 1, 1954) was convicted in 1986 of molesting and raping eight 3 and 4 year-old children at the Fells Acres Day Care Center in Malden, Massachusetts, run by his family, in one of the hysteria induced child-molestation cases of the 1980s.
He and his wife Patricia, a schoolteacher whom he married in 1977, have three children: Gerrilyn, Katie, and P.J.
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[edit] Accusations
Testimony in the cases included stories of Amirault dressed as a clown and raping children with knives, and ritual slaughter of animals. It relied heavily on testimony from young children extracted through long sessions with therapists. The Amiraults insist they were victims of the day care sex abuse hysteria that swept the US in the 1980s.
[edit] Hysteria
Many believe Amirault was railroaded, including Pulitzer Prize winner Dorothy Rabinowitz, who made the investigation and the prosecution of the Amirault case the largest portion of her book about miscarriages of justice, No Crueler Tyrannies.
[edit] Parole refused
In 2002, then-Acting Governor of Massachusetts Jane Swift refused to commute Amirault's sentence, despite a unanimous vote in favor of his release by the state's parole board. This was during her political campaign to remain in office.
[edit] Release
He was ultimately released from the Bay State Correctional Center on Friday, April 30, 2004, 18 years after his conviction. His sister and mother, Cheryl Amirault LeFave and Violet Amirault, were convicted of related charges in a separate trial, and both released from prison in 1995. Larry Hardoon, the chief prosecutor in the case, said he continues to believe Amirault committed the crimes.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- "Justice, Not So Swift" -- Article by Katha Pollitt on Swift's refusal to commute Amirault's sentence
- Boston Herald article on his release, 4/30/2004.
