Creating Victims

JOHNNY said he was hungry. ‘You’re hungry?” asked the social worker investigating charges of child abuse. “Okay. You tell me why you want to hit the… doll and I’ll give you something to eat.” Johnny insisted there was nothing to talk about. “Okay,” the adult replied, “then I’m gonna stay here and we’re gonna keep going on with this. It’s okay with me. ‘Cause I’m here to help you, and I know you want to tell me something and I’ll stay here all day till you tell me.

Johnny was one of the children in 23-year-old Kelly Michaels’s class at the Wee Care Nursery School in Maplewood, New Jersey. Interviews like this one help explain how Miss Michaels, well-liked by her young charges and respected by her colleagues, could have been indicted on more than 200 counts of child sex abuse without a single unprompted witness or a shred of physical evidence.

About the Author

Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry is the editor in chief of National Review.

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JOHNNY said he was hungry. ‘You’re hungry?” asked the social worker investigating charges of child abuse. “Okay. You tell me why you want to hit the… doll and I’ll give you something to eat.” Johnny insisted there was nothing to talk about. “Okay,” the adult replied, “then I’m gonna stay here and we’re gonna keep going on with this. It’s okay with me. ‘Cause I’m here to help you, and I know you want to tell me something and I’ll stay here all day till you tell me.

Johnny was one of the children in 23-year-old Kelly Michaels’s class at the Wee Care Nursery School in Maplewood, New Jersey. Interviews like this one help explain how Miss Michaels, well-liked by her young charges and respected by her colleagues, could have been indicted on more than 200 counts of child sex abuse without a single unprompted witness or a shred of physical evidence.