Country Walk case

{{short description|1985 day care sex abuse case in Florida, US}}

The Country Walk case is a 1985 child sex abuse case which occurred in Florida and was described as a "Multi-Victim, Multi-Offender" case.{{cite web | url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/ra_fuste.htm |title = Allegations of ritual abuse of children at the Country Walk service in Miami |publisher=Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance |date=2012-05-19 }} Francisco Fuster-Escalona, known as Frank Fuster, was convicted on multiple charges and sentenced to a minimum of 165 years behind bars, while his wife Illiana served three years. Appeals courts at the state and federal level have consistently ruled against Frank Fuster.

name="11th_Circuit_2006">https://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca11/04-15355/200415355-2011-02-28.pdf?ts=1411098450 {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}

Critics of the conviction characterize it as an instance of day-care sex-abuse hysteria.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/09/frank-fuster-prison-sentence-day-care-abuse-hysteria/|title=Janet Reno's Last Victim|date=September 5, 2018 |publisher=National Review }} His wife Ileana Flores Fuster initially denied any wrongdoing. Following interviews across several months, she testified against Frank and confessed to crimes, later recanting her confession, then recanting her recantation before reversing her account again.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/09/10/the-last-victim/|title=The Last Victim|date=August 23, 2018 |publisher=National Review |first=Rael Jean |last=Isaac |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190330232529/https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/09/10/the-last-victim/ |archive-date=2019-03-30 }} Fuster has asserted his innocence, and critics of the conviction have raised objections to the case.{{cite journal|url=http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume5/j5_1_1.htm|title=IPT Journal - "Revisiting Country Walk"|website=www.ipt-forensics.com |date=1993 |first=Debbie |last=Nathan |author-link=Debbie Nathan |issn=1043-8823 |volume=5 |number=1}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FdQ5DwAAQBAJ&q=fuster|title = The Repressed Memory Epidemic: How It Happened and What We Need to Learn from It|isbn = 9783319633756|last1 = Pendergrast|first1 = Mark|date = 13 October 2017 | publisher=Springer |author-link=Mark Pendergrast }} The case was prosecuted by Janet Reno, and was profiled in the 2002 Frontline episode "Did Daddy Do It?"{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1019697880847912080 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030816162156/http://www.opinionjournal.com/medialog/?id=105001974 |archive-date=2003-08-16 |title=The Prosecutors: A little sunshine on Janet Reno's pre-Clinton legacy |first=Dorothy |last=Rabinowitz |author-link=Dorothy Rabinowitz |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=2002-04-25 |access-date=2019-11-06}}

Background

Frank Fuster, aka Francisco Fuster-Escalona, had recently married Ileana Flores. They owned the Country Walk Babysitting Service in the Country Walk suburb of Miami, Florida. Frank had been convicted for the 1969 manslaughter of Jack (or Jacob) Isenbek, and in 1980 was shot in the head which family members said led to personality changes. He was convicted for fondling a 9-year-old child in 1981.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/talk/|title=Discussion | Did Daddy Do It | FRONTLINE|website=www.pbs.org |year=2002}} He pled guilty to manslaughter and does not dispute this conviction,{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/02/frontline/tv_frontline042602.htm|title=Washingtonpost.com: Live Online|newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 26, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419141513/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/02/frontline/tv_frontline042602.htm |archive-date=2016-04-19 |url-status=live}} but has disputed his responsibility.{{Cite web|url=https://frankfuster.org/more-about-my-cases/|title=More about my Cases | Free Frank Fuster|first=Frank |last=Fuster |publisher=Friends of Justice |date=November 21, 2020 }} In the 1981 sex abuse case he maintained his innocence and refused a plea bargain of 6{{nbs}}months probation. He was convicted and initially sentenced to 2{{nbs}}years probation.{{Cite web|url=https://frankfuster.org/introduction/|title=Introduction | A Prison Post |first=Frank |last=Fuster |publisher=Friends of Justice |date=November 6, 2020 }} Frank regrets following the advice of his lawyer, Henri Rauch, in not taking the stand in this case.{{Cite web|url=https://frankfuster.org/still-more-about-the-1981-case/|title=Still More About the 1981 Case | Free Frank Fuster |date=December 4, 2020}} Wood et al., who defended Fuster in the Country Walk case, "have no doubt he was rightfully convicted in [his two previous] cases." According to his defense team, his probation officer approved Fuster's working at a day care.{{cite web |url=https://fuster.ncrj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ffNewsBulletin96.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031015041024/http://ags.uci.edu/~dehill/witchhunt/cases/country_walk/fuster.htm |archive-date=2003-10-15 |title=Frank Fuster, aka Francisco Fuster-Escalona |date=1996 |publisher=The Frank Fuster Defense Team |access-date=28 October 2020 |url-status=live}}

In 1985 he was charged and convicted of 14{{nbs}}counts of child sexual abuse at this day care. He was sentenced to prison with a minimum term of 165{{nbs}}years.{{cite web|url=https://www.telemundo51.com/noticias/reportajes-especiales/30-anos-despues/95737/|title=30 años después. I y II parte |publisher=Telemundo 51 |date=February 24, 2015 |trans-title=30 years later. Parts I and II }} The Fusters' victims testified that the Fusters led them in quai-Satanic rituals and terrorized them by forcing them to watch Mr. Fuster mutilate birds to intimidate any children who might reveal the abuse.{{cite news |last=Collins |first=Glen |title=Nightmare in Country Walk |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1986-12-14 |quote=Mr. Fuster was convicted of molesting the children entrusted to his wife's care in their home in the middle-class Dade County suburb of Country Walk, a planned development that was intended to be an idyllic refuge from the anxieties of urban Miami. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/14/books/nightmare-in-country-walk.html?pagewanted=print |access-date=2008-07-01}}

The child witnesses were questioned by University of Miami child psychologists Laurie and Joseph Braga, who used methods that critics characterized as coercive.{{cite book |author=De Young, Mary |author-link=Mary de Young |title=The day care ritual abuse moral panic |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, N.C |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_e8ZkJBtz0EC&pg=PA71 |page=71 |isbn=978-0-7864-1830-5 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/whos-abusing-who-6364033|title=Who's Abusing Who?|first=Steven|last=Almond |author-link=Steve Almond |date=December 15, 1993|website=Miami New Times}} The Bragas allegedly questioned the Fusters' son for seven hours{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x99-BAAAQBAJ |title=We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s |year=2015 |first=Richard |last=Beck |page=142|publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=9781610392884 }} Critics declared the Bragas "became known as 'the pied pipers of child abuse{{'"}}.{{cite web | url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2002-04-25-0204240332-story.html |title = PBS Revisits Country Walk Abuse Case |newspaper=Sun Sentinel |date=2002-04-25 }} The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected arguments about allegedly coercive questioning methods being relevant to the case. The court ruled the issue had been fully litigated in the original trial, with defense council cross-examining the Bragas and also presenting an expert witness, Dr. Lee Coleman, who outlined possible problems with interviewing children. Furthermore, the appeals court noted: "parents of several of the children who utilized Fuster’s babysitting service testified that their children exhibited severe behavioral and physical problems shortly after attending this service" but before being interviewed.

On the basis of Illian's allegation that Frank has abused his six-year-old son Noel, the boy was administered a throat culture which found evidence of gonorrhea. Critics note the test was relatively new, and also alleged it was unreliable as "it cannot distinguish [gonorrhea] from [other microbes] that occur normally in both children's and adults' throats", and has "a false positive rate in children of over one third."{{Cite web|url=https://fuster.ncrj.org/|title=Free Frank Fuster |publisher=National Center for Reason and Justice |year=2020 }} The prosecutors destroyed the test sample, preventing a retest. The 11th Circuit in 2006 later found Fuster's objections to the gonorrhea test were without merit, as he did not raise a specific Constitutional objection and "does not argue that his son’s test was actually negative". The court furthermore noted the gonorrhea test "merely corroborated other evidence that Fuster had sexually abused his son."

The positive gonorrhea test seemed to have convinced the prosecution of the Fusters' guilt so they sought a confession from Ileana. Attorney Michael Von Zamft had been representing both Fusters but dropped Francisco and critics allege he tried to help Ileana recover memories of abuse. "Francisco's defender thus became his prosecutor." Von Zamft and the prosecution brought in contractors called the "Behavior Changers" to extract a confession from Ileana. Ileana, in 2001, described the "Behavior Changers":

Since they had all the stories from the children and I didn't remember, they will make me close my eyes and just they will tell me the story. They would tell me the story. Then in my mind, I have to go step by step the way how they were telling me the story. I had to imagine that that was happening. ... If I made a mistake, then they would correct me: ... They would tell me the name of the children. I couldn't remember all of them, so they would correct me again. And we would do this over and over until I got the memory piece that supposedly was missing.{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/interviews/ileana.html |title = Interviews - Ileana Flores | Did Daddy do It | FRONTLINE| website=PBS }}

Following this treatment, in 1985 Michael Rappaport, of the Behavior Changers, and Janet Reno accompanied Ileana during her deposition against Frank, in which she gave many details including snakes and feces and was periodically interrupted and guided by Rappaport.{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/frank/85depo.html |title = Was Fuster a Monster? - Ileana Flores' 1985 Deposition | Did Daddy do It | FRONTLINE| website=PBS }} Sociologist Richard Ofshe studied the case and in his deposition stated:

Ileana Fuster was hypnotized repeatedly prior to trial; that Ileana has personality characteristics ... that indicate a high level of suggestibility coupled with a great desire to please; that the testimony she eventually gave against her husband is likely to have included a great many elements that were suggested to her by therapists in the weeks leading up to trial; and that, as a result, her trial testimony cannot be considered reliable, factual or as historical truth.{{cite web |url=http://www.oranous.com/innocence/FrankFuster/Ofshe.htm |title=Frank Fuster case: Ofshe testimony, affidavit, credentials, honors |first=Richard |last=Ofshe |author-link=Richard Ofshe |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104174740/http://www.oranous.com/innocence/FrankFuster/Ofshe.htm |archive-date=2013-01-04 |access-date=2021-12-05 |url-status=live }}

She furthermore said that this "leaves 'no question' that [the Behavior Changers] were involved in coercing a confession." Ileana Flores, however, did not admit to such claims when she pled guilty, instead maintaining "that she was innocent but wanted 'to get all of this over{{'"}}. Ileana served 3{{nbs}}years imprisonment, where she divorced her husband and was born-again. She was then deported to Honduras, accompanied by members of her new church. The Fusters lost custody of their son, Noel, who did not testify. He went to live with his biological mother and her husband. He has since denied that he was abused.{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/interviews/goodman.html |title = Interviews - Noel Goodman | Did Daddy do It | FRONTLINE| website=PBS }} Because Noel denied being abused, he did not share in the settlements, of over five-million dollars, paid to the families of the alleged victims in this case by the Disney-owned Arvida Corporation, developers of Country Walk.

Ileana offered testimony against her husband after she had pled guilty but before she was sentenced.{{cite web | url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1985-10-01-8502110607-story.html |title = Wife's Testimony Prompts Angry Outburst from Fuster |newspaper=Sun Sentinel |date=1985-10-01 }} She later recanted her court testimony, claiming that she had been kept naked in solitary confinement and subjected to other forms of physical and psychological duress until she had agreed to testify against her husband.{{cite episode|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icw3AkvkbWE |title=Did Daddy Do It? |publisher=PBS|transcript=Transcript|transcript-url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/etc/script.html|date=April 25, 2002|series=Frontline

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326052018/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/ |archive-date=2010-03-26 |url-status=live

}} Defense investigator Stephen Dinerstein confirmed this, deposing "that the shower, when received, is a hosing down in the cell. That she is in a cell with nothing in it but a light in the ceiling and that she is often kept nude and in view of everybody and anybody." Flores told Frontline that prosecutor Janet Reno visited her in jail, saying "I'm sorry, but you are not [innocent]. You're going to have to help us." The number and timing of Reno's visits are in dispute, with Rappaport claiming at least 30{{nbs}}such visits, and admitting to 34{{nbs}}interro{{shy}}gations of his own. Ileana's interro{{shy}}gations have been described as torture{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/10/kavanaugh-confirmation-battle-mass-hysteria-roots/ |title = The Road to Waco|date = 4 October 2018 |publisher=National Review |first=Kevin |last=Williamson |author-link=Kevin D. Williamson}} that defense witness Ralph Underwager described as similar to the "psychological torture" of American prisoners of war in the Korean War.

When Von Zamft dropped Frank, it left him with defense attorney Jeffrey Samek. Fuster says that after his 1981 conviction, Samek wanted to handle his appeal,{{Cite web|url=https://frankfuster.org/the-1981-case-goes-to-trial/|title=The 1981 Case Goes to Trial | Free Frank Fuster |date=December 10, 2020}} but then Samek found no ground for appeal, which Fuster says prevented his filing an appeal on time.{{Cite web|url=https://frankfuster.org/after-the-trial-we-move-to-country-walk/|title=After the trial, we move to Country Walk | Free Frank Fuster |date=December 17, 2020 }} In the 1985 trial, Samek accused Fuster of assaulting him and Fuster accused Samek of lying. Both requested that Samek be replaced, but the judge did not permit this.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHjJijtGUSA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/yHjJijtGUSA |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|title=Fuster's own lawyer accuses him of assault - YouTube|website=www.youtube.com |date=Sep 9, 2018 }}{{cbignore}} Fuster later admitted that he "took [Samek] by his clothes and put him against a wall."{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/interviews/fuster.html|title=Interviews - Frank Fuster | Did Daddy Do It | FRONTLINE|website=www.pbs.org}} When Fuster was convicted, Samek said "there is some feeling someone charged with these crimes is guilty until proven innocent. I'm not saying that's the case here."{{cite web | url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1985-10-03-0330280085-story.html |title = Fuster Guilty of Sexual Abuse: Dade Man's Time in Prison Totals 165 Years |publisher=Orlando Sentinel |date=1985-10-03 }} At his deposition, Dinerstein complained that Fuster's defense lawyers were not interested and refused to meet him when he discovered exculpatory information.{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/10/15/letters-231/ | title=Letters| date=27 September 2018 |publisher=National Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118195839/https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/10/15/letters-231/ |archive-date=2019-01-18 }} Fuster's appeal "claim of ineffective assistance of counsel" was rejected as he did not make this claim on time.

In 1995 in Honduras, Ileana gave a deposition to Arthur Cohen, an appeal lawyer representing Fuster, that she could not remember any child abuse "because nothing really happened."{{cite web|url=http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume6/j6_4_2.htm|title=IPT Journal - "Statement of Ileana Flores Regarding Florida vs. Fuster"|website=www.ipt-forensics.com}} A judge ruled that this was sufficient to call for a hearing regarding a new trial for Fuster, and arranged for Ileana to testify remotely from Honduras. Soon thereafter, Rev. Tommy Watson, the minister of her new church that was paying for her education and who had helped to negotiate her early release and deportation, flew to Honduras to meet with Ileana. There Ileana signed a letter recanting her denial, witnessed by Watson.{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/frank/letterrecant.html |title = Was Fuster a Monster? - Ileana's Letter of Recantation | Did Daddy do It | FRONTLINE |website = PBS |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040731033917/http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Embassy/9062/Ileana2.txt |archive-date = 2004-07-31 |url-status=live }} This prevented the hearing that attorneys Cohen and Robert Rosenthal were trying to arrange for Frank.{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/interviews/rosenthal.html |title = Interviews - Robert Rosenthal | Did Daddy do It | FRONTLINE| website=PBS }} In her 2001 Frontline interview, Ileana changed her story once again, claiming that Watson threatened her into signing that letter. Frontline producer and director Michael Kirk said "The question to me is not whether Ileana is a liar. Ileana is a liar. The only question is when. When she pled guilty, or now?"

{{As of|2020}}, Frank Fuster continues to serve a 165-year prison sentence.{{cite web |title=Florida Department of Law Enforcement – Sexual Offender / Predator Flyer |url=http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/flyer.do?personId=58857 |access-date=10 March 2014 |archive-date=10 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310183019/http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/flyer.do?personId=58857 |url-status=dead }} Fuster and his defense claimed that he rejected a plea bargain of a 15-year sentence that would have released him even sooner.{{Cite web|url=https://frankfuster.org/the-truth-about-my-convictions/ |title=The Truth about my Convictions | Free Frank Fuster|first=Frank |last=Fuster |publisher=Prison Post: Friends of Justice |date=November 18, 2020 }} His many appeals and requests for clemency have been unsuccessful,{{cite web | url=https://casetext.com/case/fuster-v-state-1 | title=Fuster v. State, 664 So. 2d 18 | Casetext Search + Citator |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324204425/https://casetext.com/case/fuster-v-state-1 |date=December 20, 1995 |archive-date=March 24, 2020 |url-status=live }} [https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914837aadd7b049344a8341 Alt URL]{{cite web | url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca11/04-15355/200415355-2011-02-28.html | title=Francisco Fuster-Escalona v. FL Dept. Of Corr., No. 04-15355 (11th Cir. 2006)}} and he has lacked legal representation since 2003.

In 2012, the Innocence Project declined to take his case, telling Fuster, "We have reviewed your case and have determined that our office cannot accept it," with no further explanation.

He will not be eligible for parole until 2134.

Fuster has been attacked five times in prison, and most seriously when a fellow prisoner stabbed Fuster in the neck.{{cite web |author-link=Alexander Cockburn |first=Alexander |last=Cockburn |title=Beat the Devil: Reno's Victim |publisher=The Nation |date=September 20, 1993 |pages=272–273 |url=https://ncrj.org/_fuster/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CockburnBeatTheDevil.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207230923/https://ncrj.org/_fuster/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CockburnBeatTheDevil.pdf |archive-date=2020-12-07 }}

The Miami Method

The case was prosecuted by Dade County state's attorney Janet Reno.{{cite web |title=Was Fuster a Monster?: A Summary of the Frank Fuster "Country Walk" Case |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/frank/summary.html |work=Frontline |access-date=10 March 2014}} Her "Miami Method", to prosecute day care sex abuse cases, was also used to prosecute Bobby Fijnje and Grant Snowden.{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/terror/etc/miami.html |title = The 'Miami Method' of Prosecuting | the Child Terror | FRONTLINE | website=PBS }}{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/etc/miami.html |title = The Miami Method of Prosecuting Child Abuse Cases | Did Daddy do It | FRONTLINE| website=PBS }} These cases were profiled in the 1998 Frontline episode "The Child Terror".{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSLZQ9zXT38 |title=Frontline: The Child Terror (Bobby Fijnje and Grant Snowden Ritual Abuse cases) |publisher=YouTube |date=2020-04-27 |access-date=2020-06-06}}{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/terror/etc/synopsis.html |title = Synopsis | the Child Terror | FRONTLINE |website = PBS |date=October 1998}}

Bobby Fijnje, 14 when accused and 16 when tried, was accused of sexually molesting 21 children in his care during church services. The charges were driven by the testimony of children interviewed by mental-health professionals using techniques later discredited.{{cite web|url=http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume10/j10_br20.htm |title=IPT Journal - Book Review - "Witch Hunt: A True Story of Social Hysteria and Abused Justice" |publisher=Ipt-forensics.com |date=April 15, 2014 |access-date=January 29, 2015}} A psychologist told one child, who was denying abuse, that if she made an accusation, "you won't have to keep answering my questions". She made an accusation,{{Cite web|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201216013311/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB846453155475166500|archive-date=December 16, 2020|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB846453155475166500|title=The Bobby Finje Case|first=Dorothy|last=Rabinowitz|date=October 28, 1996|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=December 15, 2020|url-status=live}} while interrogated diabetic Fijnje was deprived of food and confessed to touching a child, only to retract it as soon as he was released.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3vAuI0VzMN8C&pg=PA177|title = Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt|isbn = 9780595189557|last1 = Nathan|first1 = Debbie|last2 = Snedeker|first2 = Michael|year = 2001| publisher=iUniverse }} Attorney Mel Black was one of Fijnje's {{nowrap|defenders{{tsp}}{{mdash}}{{tsp}}}}the church where the abuse was alleged had an insurance policy that paid about one million dollars for Fijnje's defense. Stephen Ceci testified in Fijnje's defense,{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/terror/interviews/ceci.html |title=Interviews - Dr. Stephen Ceci | The Child Terror |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS |access-date=January 29, 2015}} but also conveyed a plea-bargain offer from the prosecution to Fijnje's family.

The prosecution dropped one of the child accusers before the trial, "so that a jury would not hear her story about digging up graves and a woman turned into a witch." During the trial, the prosecution was unable to present any witnesses to the alleged abuse. Fijnje refused a plea-bargain and was acquitted of all charges.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/terror/cases/fijnjeinterview.html |title=Bobby Fijnje - Interview | The Child Terror |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS |date=May 5, 1991 |access-date=January 29, 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/terror/cases/fijnjeletter.html |title=Bobby Fijnje - Fijnje Jury's Letter To Janet Reno | The Child Terror |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS |date=May 9, 1991 |access-date=January 29, 2015}} University of Utah psychology professor and defense witness David Raskin said that Fijnje's "refusal to plea marked the crucial difference between the Fijnje and Country Walk cases:

They thought they'd offer Bobby a deal he couldn't refuse. But they were not able to do to him what they did to Ileana Fuster."

In 1997, Fijnje and the Fusters' son Noel attended a "Day of Contrition" conference in Salem, Massachusetts, along with experts and others who had been freed in similar cases.{{Cite journal | url=http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume12/j12_1_5.htm | journal=IPT Journal | title=Shalom, Salem |first=Carol |last=Reid |volume=12 |number=5 |date=Winter 2002 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.fmsfonline.org/newsletters/fmsf_1997_feb_v6_n2.html | title=FMSF Newsletter February 1, 1997 - Vol. 6, No. 2 |date=February 7, 1997 |first=Pamela |last=Freyd |author-link=Pamela Freyd }}

Initially the charges against Harold Grant Snowden, a policeman, were dropped. Then Reno brought in the Bragas to question the children.{{Cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB846454858888293000 |title = The Pursuit of Justice in Dade County|newspaper =The Wall Street Journal|date = 1996-10-28|last1 = Rabinowitz|first1 = Dorothy |author-link=Dorothy Rabinowitz |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030803074347/http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/courses/xcourses/oct29.htm |archive-date=2003-08-03}} Snowden was first acquitted, then retried with younger children{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB909440791659522500 |title=Grant Snowden's Final Trial|newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=October 27, 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216012648/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB909440791659522500|archive-date=2020-12-16|via=www.wsj.com}} and sentenced to 5 life sentences. His state appeals were rejected so he was imprisoned for 12 years before a 1997 federal appeal{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB876776384237804500|title=The Snowden Case, At the Bar of Justice|first=Dorothy|last=Rabinowitz|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=October 14, 1997|via=www.wsj.com}} was successful.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB887932355301364500|title=Reno Overturned|date=February 20, 1998|via=www.wsj.com|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030428110802/http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a101792.htm |archive-date=2003-04-28}} In overturning his conviction, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded "that allowing expert testimony to boost the credibility of the main witness against {{nowrap|Snowden{{tsp}}{{mdash}}{{tsp}}}}considering the lack of other evidence of {{nowrap|guilt{{tsp}}{{mdash}}{{tsp}}}}violated his right to due process by making his criminal trial fundamentally unfair."{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/terror/cases/snowdensummary.html |title = Grant Snowden - Summary | the Child Terror | FRONTLINE| website=PBS }}{{cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/snowden-v-singletary |title=Snowden v. Singletary (2/18/1998, No. 94-4303) |date=February 18, 1998 |access-date=2020-03-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030802035656/http://www.law.emory.edu/11circuit/feb98/94-4303.man.html |archive-date=2003-08-02 }} The appeals court ruled that the positive gonorrhea test, performed by the same doctor at the same lab as in the Fuster case, was unreliable in this case. Assistant Attorney General Michael Neimand argued against releasing Snowden on bail, and letting him speak to the press while they considered retrying him, but the court denied these requests.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB891986129780356000|title=Through the Darkness|first=Dorothy|last=Rabinowitz|date=April 8, 1998|work=The Wall Street Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030813000621/http://www.lukeford.net/Dennis/p48.html |archive-date=2003-08-13 }} The prosecution vowed to continue prosecuting, but the U.S. Supreme Court denied their appeal,{{Cite web|url=https://www.ravellaw.com/opinions/88bca4f7a602ce6acb751507dfa337ec|title=Singletary v. Snowden - Ravel Law|website=www.ravellaw.com|date=November 2, 1998}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} so they "dismissed the charges on November 22, 1998."{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3871|title=Harold Grant Snowden - National Registry of Exonerations |website=www.law.umich.edu |year=2012 }} Upon release, when Snowden was looking for work, his wife's ex-husband helped get Snowden's name removed from sex-offender lists.{{cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/dorothy-rabinowitz |title=Afterward: Freedom is never the same for those who've been to prison on phony charges |publisher=Pulitzer.org |date=December 29, 2000 |archive-date=2004-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041218020757/http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=90000450 }}

Some attempted to raise questions about these cases when Reno was nominated for U.S. Attorney General:{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513034656/https://www.skepticfiles.org/rumor/j-renotn.htm |archive-date=2008-05-13 |author-link=Alexander Cockburn |first=Alexander |last=Cockburn |title=Janet Reno's Coerced Confession |publisher=The Nation |date=1993-03-08 |pages=296–297 |url=https://ncrj.org/_fuster/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CockburnBeatTheDevil.pdf |url-status=live }} [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/%22Janet$20Reno$27s$20Coerced$20Confession%22/misc.activism.progressive/cr1XmhTkYPs/86oJLevHrusJ Alt URL] An article by journalist Debbie Nathan in a non-peer reviewed journal edited by Ralph Underwager was faxed to the White House, and Fijnje's father (a Dutch diplomat) "sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee".{{Cite journal| url=http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume6/j6_4_1.htm |publisher = IPT Journal |title =Untying the Gordian Knot: A Return to Reason |first1=Ralph |last1=Underwager |author-link=Ralph Underwager |first2=Hollida |last2=Wakefield |year=1994 |volume=6 |number=4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040719224359/http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Embassy/9062/Commentary.txt |archive-date = 2004-07-19 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031004201601/http://www.ags.uci.edu/~dehill/witchhunt/ccla/pages/fijnje.htm|author=B. Fijnje Sr.|year=1993 |title=Open Letter to the American People |archive-date=October 4, 2003 |publisher=Concerned Citizens for Legal Accountability |url=https://totseans.com/totse/en/politics/political_spew/reno.html }} Raskin argued that the Fijnje case in particular should be raised at Reno's confirmation hearings, but Black was more forgiving and opposed this.{{cite web|url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/reno-reconsidered-part-b-6364430|title=Reno Reconsidered (Part B)|first=Steven|last=Almond|date=March 3, 1993|website=Miami New Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041103063834/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/1993-03-03/news/feature.html |archive-date=2004-11-03 |url-status=live }} Black's view prevailed as Reno was not then questioned about any of these cases.{{cite web |url=https://fathersmanifesto.net/renorosn.htm |title=Janet Reno's Child Abuse |first=Robert |last=Rosenthal |date=1996 |publisher=Penthouse |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961221010134/http://www.penthousemag.com/magazine/p05may/05reno.html |archive-date=1996-12-21 }}{{Cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB979868348425004615 |title = Confirmation Chronicles|newspaper =The Wall Street Journal|date = 2001-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030724214122/http://www.opinionjournal.com/medialog/?id=85000460 |archive-date=2003-07-24 }} When asked about the Country Walk case while running for Governor of Florida in 2002, Reno replied, "I haven't looked at the file in 15 years; I would need you to bring me all the files, and I don't foresee having the time to go through the files."{{cite web| title=Editorial: Reno owes the public answers |date=April 28, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731040915/http://www.sptimes.com/2002/04/28/Perspective/Reno_owes_the_public_.shtml |archive-date=2012-07-31 |publisher=St. Petersburg Times |url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/674364/posts }}{{cite web|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2002/04/25/frontline-airs-allegations-against-reno/|title=Frontline' airs allegations against Reno|website=Tampa Bay Times |date=2002-04-25 }}

''Unspeakable Acts''

This case inspired a 1986 book and a 1990 ABC made-for-TV movie, both called Unspeakable Acts.{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2016/10/30/13413864/satanic-panic-ritual-abuse-history-explained|title=The history of Satanic Panic in the US — and why it's not over yet|first=Aja|last=Romano|date=October 30, 2016|website=Vox}}{{cite web|url=https://www.popsugar.com/node/43148266|title=Unspeakable Acts|first=Quinn|last=Keaney|date=February 22, 2019|website=POPSUGAR Entertainment}} The book and early reviews accepted the prosecution's account,{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-23-bk-12359-story.html |title = Unspeakable Acts by Jan Hollingsworth (Congdon & Weed: $17.95; 581 pp.)| website=Los Angeles Times |date = 23 November 1986}}{{cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jan-hollingsworth/unspeakable-acts-2/ |title=UNSPEAKABLE ACTS by Jan Hollingsworth |publisher=Kirkus Reviews |date=1986-10-01 |access-date=2020-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114002648/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jan-hollingsworth/unspeakable-acts-2/ |archive-date=2020-01-14 }} but Debbie Nathan criticized author Jan Hollingsworth for leaving out important facts and not disclosing her relationship to the prosecutors: Hollingsworth had left her position as a TV-reporter to become a paid consultant to the Bragas.{{cite web|author=Debbie Nathan |url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/the-public-was-shocked-country-walk-parents-demanded-action-an-election-was-near-janet-reno-was-going-to-send-someone-to-jail-no-matter-what-6364629 |title=The public was shocked. Country Walk parents demanded action. An election was near. Janet Reno was going to send someone to jail. No matter what. |publisher=Miami New Times |date=1993-03-03 |access-date=2020-01-14}}

The movie starred Jill Clayburgh and Brad Davis as Laurie and Joseph Braga, and Gregory Sierra and Bess Meyer as Frank and Ileana Fuster. But neither Reno nor any of Ileana's other interrogators were portrayed. The movie changed the Fusters' child from a son to a daughter. At the end of the movie, star Clayburgh spoke (out of character) about detecting signs of sexual abuse in children.{{cite web | url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=alka&p=7&item=T:16747 |title= ABC Monday Night Movie: Unspeakable Acts (TV) |publisher= The Paley Center for Media |year=1995–2020}}

The movie and its contemporary reviews accepted the prosecution's (and book's) theory.{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/01/13/Unspeakable-Acts-details-a-horrifying-true-case-of-child/5890632206800/ |title='Unspeakable Acts' details a horrifying true case of child... - UPI Archives |publisher=Upi.com |date=1990-01-13 |access-date=2020-01-14}}{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-21-ca-790-story.html |title = Portraying the 'Unspeakable' : Docudrama details a real case of abuse in day-care center| website=Los Angeles Times |date = 1989-05-21}}{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-15-ca-86-story.html|title='Unspeakable Acts': Dramatic Tension Lies in Truth |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=1990-01-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200909002055/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-15-ca-86-story.html|archive-date=2020-09-09}} The New York Times praised the movie for avoiding exploitation and sensationalism,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/15/arts/review-television-unspeakable-acts-sex-abuse-in-day-care.html |title=Review/Television; 'Unspeakable Acts': Sex Abuse in Day Care |work=The New York Times |date=1990-01-15 |access-date=2020-01-14}} but People Magazine panned the movie as "harsh, sanctimonious [and] painful to watch."{{cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-unspeakable-acts-vol-33-no-2/|title=Picks and Pans Review: Unspeakable Acts|website=People |date=January 15, 1990}} Some parents of the alleged victims objected to the movie for reopening old wounds.{{cite web|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1990/01/16/victims-parents-angry-about-day-care-movie-producer-defends-re-telling-of-child-abuse-case/|title=Victims' parents angry about day-care movie // Producer defends re-telling of child-abuse case|website=Tampa Bay Times |date=1990-01-16 }}

Later discussion

In his book The Witch-Hunt Narrative, professor Ross E. Cheit argues most of those accused in alleged day-care sex-abuse hysteria cases or ritual abuse cases in the 1980s were in fact guilty of some level of child abuse, though he agrees many cases were very poorly investigated and is often skeptical of more lurid or sensationalistic claims. Cheit includes the Fuster case in his discussion.{{Cite web|url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199931224.001.0001/acprof-9780199931224-chapter-2|title=The McMartin Preschool Case (1983–1990) |first=Ross E.|last=Cheit|year=2014 |author-link=Ross E. Cheit |publisher=Oxford University Press |via=oxford.universitypressscholarship.com |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199931224.001.0001|isbn=9780199931224}}{{Cite journal | doi=10.1300/J070v16n03_06| title=Myths About the Country Walk Case| year=2007| last1=Cheit| first1=Ross E.| last2=Mervis| first2=David| s2cid=27645676| journal=Journal of Child Sexual Abuse| volume=16| issue=3| pages=95–116| pmid=18032242 |issn=1547-0679 }}{{Cite journal | doi=10.1177/0886260516688889| title=A Response to Articles and Commentaries on the Witch-Hunt Narrative| year=2017| last1=Cheit| first1=Ross E.| s2cid=52090559| journal=Journal of Interpersonal Violence| volume=32| issue=6| pages=1002–1023| pmid=30145970|issn=1552-6518 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/PBS/|title=Debunking Frontline's Did Daddy Do It?|date=April 24, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030818204959/http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/PBS/|archive-date=2003-08-18}}

Critics have raised objections to Cheit's findings.{{Cite web|url=https://ncrj.org/resources-2/response-to-ross-cheit/the-witch-hunt-narrative-rebuttal/|title=The Witch Hunt Narrative: Rebuttal |publisher=The National Center for Reason and Justice |year=2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017083842/https://ncrj.org/resources-2/response-to-ross-cheit/the-witch-hunt-narrative-rebuttal/ |archive-date=2015-10-17 |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1177/0886260516657351|title = A Critical Evaluation of the Factual Accuracy and Scholarly Foundations of The Witch-Hunt Narrative|year = 2017|last1 = Wood|first1 = James M.|last2 = Nathan|first2 = Debbie|last3 = Beck|first3 = Richard|last4 = Hampton|first4 = Keith|s2cid = 52091302|journal = Journal of Interpersonal Violence|volume = 32|issue = 6|pages = 897–925|pmid = 30145966 |issn=1552-6518 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/kc-johnson/revisionism-gone-wild/|title=Revisionism Gone Wild: The Witch-Hunt Narrative by Ross E. Cheit |author-link=KC Johnson |first=KC |last=Johnson |magazine=Commentary Magazine |date=September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814105018/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/kc-johnson/revisionism-gone-wild/|archive-date=2020-08-14 |url-status=live }}

Country Walk case

Background

The Miami Method

''Unspeakable Acts''

Later discussion

See also

References

Further reading