Baker withdraws recommendation for two pardons in child sex abuse case

Update: Gov. Baker's press secretary issued a statement on Wednesday announcing that the governor is withdrawing his petition for the Amiraults' pardons. Read more here.

Original story:

A decades-old Massachusetts child sex abuse case prompted hours of emotional testimony during a packed State House hearing Tuesday to consider pardoning two siblings convicted of the abuse.

The Governor’s Council took up Gov. Charlie Baker's recommended pardons for Gerald Amirault, 68, and his sister Cheryl Amirault LeFave, 64. They were convicted of abusing children at their family's child care center in Malden during the 1980s.

The Amiraults did not attend the hearing at the request of the Governor's Council chair, who said their presence would create tension. Councilor Terrence Kennedy said the panel was only reviewing the merits of the pardons and not retrying the case against them. Yet, the merits of the case were argued for more than six hours.

Supporters of the Amiraults said the children who said they were abused at the Fells Acres Day School were coaxed by overzealous investigators whose techniques would not be allowed in court today. The Amiraults' attorney James Sultan compared the Amiraults' convictions to the Salem witch trials and said they were based on what would now be considered tainted testimony. Sultan called the case a "textbook example" of how not to investigate child sex abuse cases.

"The evidence underlying these convictions is based on biased interviews that rendered the [children's] accounts unreliable," Sultan said. "In such cases where the court system fails, clemency is the proper vehicle to rectify that."

Gerald Amirault's wife, Patti Amirault, said she was pregnant with their third child when Amirault was arrested in 1984. She said, as someone who worked at Fells Acres in the '80s and still works with children, she supported her husband during his 18 years in prison and his time on parole afterward.

"Do you think I would have done that if I thought he had hurt a child?" Amirault asked the council. "My whole life has been working with children. I would have been out of there in a second. I know this didn't happen."

She said her husband is still on parole and will remain so for another year. She said he wears an ankle bracelet that monitors his movements and has had difficulty finding employment. Gerald Amirault and his sister are required to register as sex offenders. Patti Amirault said she wants to be able to live out their retirement without the shadow of this case.

But the prosecutor who tried the Amiraults and many of the families affected urged the council not to approve the governor's recommendations. Former assistant Middlesex County prosecutor Larry Hardoon said a pardon could send a message that the Amiraults' convictions, which were upheld on appeals, were made in error.

"There is no justification for a pardon that will be promoted by the petitioners and echoed by the media as a wrongful conviction," Hardoon said. "That nullifies the long, solid legal history of these cases, and nullifies the painful, emotional turmoil that the victims and their families have lived with to this day."

Victim advocate Janet Fine, who worked with the accusers in the Amirault case, said the new science about investigating children's claims of abuse "in no way changes the facts about the children's initial claims." She said a pardon would send an "enormously harmful message" to other families about coming forward with allegations of abuse.

"This remains one of the compelling and clear cases of child sexual abuse," Fine said.

Among the five accusers and family members who spoke was Brenda Hurley-McCarthy, who sent her daughter to the Amiraults' Fells Acres Day School. She said she still feels guilt about sending her child there, and her daughter still struggles because of the abuse.

"My child and many others still can't get past what was done to them," Hurley-McCarthy said. "The fears, nightmares and struggles faced daily due to the sexual abuse by the Amiraults. Can you tell me when my daughter, myself and my family will get our pardon? When my daughter will be able to erase what happened to her 38 years ago?"

Jenn Bennett, who was among the children who testified against the Amiraults said she went to their daycare as a 4-year-old and they "robbed me of my childhood."

"What is driving this [pardon recommendation] now?" Bennett asked. "How would they feel if if it was their child here?"

The Amiraults' attorney said they filed pardon applications in February. In August, the Parole Board notified the Amiraults that it would not hold hearings on their applications and also recommended that Baker deny the pardons. In November, the governor recommended the Amiraults' pardon in addition to four others.

The councilors appeared split on the measure. Councilor Robert Jubinville asked how much punishment was enough. Councilor Marily Pettito Devaney said she has a friend whose child was abused at Fells Acres and she does not support a pardon. She said there was physical evidence of abuse of the children and she is convinced that it happened.

"This person doesn't deserve a pardon," Devaney said. "I stand by the Parole Board. God bless every one of them for voting no."

Councilor Christopher Iannella told attorney Sultan that this case has been litigated multiple times, including six cases before the state Supreme Judicial Court.

"And a majority of the SJC said, guess what, we're not overturning these convictions," Iannella said. "So, when you say 'alleged' victims, that's troubling to me and to the families here, because they are not 'alleged' victims, they are victims."

One thing the councilors agreed on is that they are concerned that the governor's office did not provide more information about why Baker is recommending a pardon. They said they were relying on a one paragraph statement from Baker's office that said that based on previous court rulings, the governor is "left with grave doubt regarding the evidentiary strength of these convictions."

Councilor Paul DePalo said "the process stinks" and the councilors have questions about the reasons behind the governor's recommendation.

The governor's office did not respond to requests for comment. Baker has said that he "spent a lot of time" reviewing the past legal decisions and that the interviewing techniques used with the child accusers have been "discredited."

The Governor's Council now needs to vote. Chairman Terrence Kennedy said that should take place by next week, during a regular council meeting.