I had wanted to get this post up earlier today. But until a few minutes ago (and after multiple scans/re-boots), it's been as if my computer has been under some kind of hacker-attack all day long. Given recent events, it creeps me out.
A while back, I did a series of posts on the case of Dr. Melvin Levine, the world-renowned child-behaviorist accused of molesting young males during physical examinations he did decades ago. I dived into the controversy because the lawyers-prosecuting-civil-suits-on-behalf-of-the-now-adult-men boldly proclaimed that genital exams were NEVER necessary during the medical evaluation of children for behavioral & psychiatric problems.
That claim could not have been more IRRESPONSIBLE or just plain FALSE (my argument was made in the original post and I don't care to repeat myself here).
Moreover, I thought (and still think) that, when the Levine case came to their attention, the North Carolina Medical Board took a very convenient dive . . . in order to keep the headlines low-key and short-lived . . . and in such a fashion that we will never know the truth. There was no public hearing. The accusers remained anonymous. A "resolution" was reached behind closed doors. Levine, who has publicly always maintained his innocence, and had all but retired from clinical practice anyway, gave up his medical license.
But that's the North Carolina Medical Board's particular specialty. Like the North Carolina State Bar, they've never been very big on real transparency - or the whole truth - especially when it comes to their own inadequacies in both adequately policing and protecting their own.
I took a lot of heat for those posts on Levine - mostly from anonymous young men who alleged abuse on the part of various healthcare professionals scattered all over the nation.
Of course, that's not to say that child-abuse-by-a-trusted-professional does not happen and when it does happen, there should be hell for "the professional" to pay.
But the thing is, I've made the pilgrimage to Salem, Massachusetts and have done quite a bit of reading on their Witch Trials, and I've got ZERO USE for anonymous accusers . . . particularly when the allegation is something so heinous as child abuse.
If you're old enough to understand the procedure/speak . . . and you're going to lodge a whopper like that, you need to be ready/willing/able to take the stand. There's also got to be some kind of proof.
My thinking on the subject was shaped considerably by a turn I did as an expert witness in a "child rape" case in Randolph County several years back . . . as prosecuted by ADA King Dozier. The case (which I was told was won pretty much solely on my testimony - something that bothered me immensely) was ultimately over-turned on appeal . . . mostly because the accused was not afforded the very basic right to face his accuser (courtesy of a few smooth moves by Dozier and a local judge apparently unfamiliar with the Sixth Amendment) . . . and he was convicted of an act that I did not actually testify to.
Me being me, I blogged about the behind-the-scenes machinations (in which I was essentially forced to return to North Carolina - from Virginia - and testify under threat of arrest). I also got paid (the only time in all of the times I testified for DSS/CPS that I ever insisted on reimbursement for my testimony as an expert). It's all in the link. No need to reiterate the sad/sorry story here.
Every time I look back on that case . . . and how my testimony was used/abused in an end-run around the Constitution (Mr. Dozier has since been disciplined by the State Bar in another case) . . . I want to bathe. Indeed, after that experience, I stopped doing child abuse exams (unless confronted with an emergent situation).
Chalk another "kill-the-child-advocate" point up for Garland Yates, of the Randolph County DA's office.
Of course, where Garland is concerned, manipulating witnesses is nothing compared to colluding with Randolph Hospital executives in order to keep a Pediatrician-driven-out-of-town-for-saving-a-baby's-life OUT of town.
And how, as a DA, do you do that, you ask? Well, you keep the physician-that-the-VIP's-who've-bankrolled-your-campaigns want to keep out of town out of Court. You simply refuse to investigate the case (in which the Pediatrician alleges perjury, contempt and fraud) in your own jurisdiction . . . or (in the much preferable alternative) refer the case against said executives where it really needs to go (i.e. the North Carolina Attorney General's office).
It's the reason all of Governor Bev Perdue's wailing and moaning about "ethics" reform and fighting public corruption makes my blood boil. For until very recently, North Carolina has been using a wet noodle to do it.
OBTW, did I mention that North Carolina is number five on the Daily Beast's list of most corrupt states?
I digress and I apologize. Today we have yet another example of why child abuse cases can be so hard to navigate . . . and why I was so reluctant to jump on the bandwagon of self-righteous/angry anons calling for Dr. Levine's head when the allegations against him surfaced: A Georgia kindergarten teacher, falsely accused of child molestation, was exonerated in Court this week after a two-year legal ordeal.
It's classic small-town stuff. It seems adult$-with-agenda$ put the children up to it . . . and coached them as to what to say. Prosecutors-looking-to-make-a-name pounced.
The rest was hell-on-earth for an innocent woman, courtesy of the Courts.
What happened to Tonya Craft is reminiscent of a number of cases in which innocent child-care workers were put through hell by children being manipulated/used by adults. You would think that with all of these cautionary tales out there, prosecutors & child-advocates would be more careful.
Of course, the phenomenon is not limited to child-care workers or teachers or Pediatric healthcare professionals. Or indeed, Catholic priests.
In all cases, the accusations destroy lives - and it often matters not if the accused is ultimately proved innocent.
I know a little something about being falsely maligned (just a little - and certainly not nearly as much or in the same mind-numbing manner as Tonya Craft). Once upon a time, a pair of liars called me a liar. They ran from their despicable lawsuit in the end (the lawyers all said it was "nothing personal"). But not before they had humiliated me in front of my horrified parents, and wasted a lot of my money and time, and totally derailed a career . . . AND (last but not least) lied under Oath/on the record (not that they've ever been held accountable for that in any investigation/proceeding under Garland Yates' jurisdiction).
You will notice, in proving her innocence to a jury-of-her-peers, Tonya Craft (who lost her house and is now $500,000 in debt due to attorney's fees), took the stand and told the truth.
That's what truly innocent folk (as opposed to cowards and bullies) do. They want to fully clear their name. They want to counter every allegation and explain everything.
The guilty tend to let their lawyers do the talking, minimize/exclude damning evidence, and fully exercise the right to remain silent (5/13 Postscript: To answer a question that you posed in a public forum, Jeff, I "turned on" you and pressed charges because "friends" do NOT kick good people when they are down . . . or methodically prey upon the fear and/or "pain" of their "friends". Oh, and when they "screw up", they apologize, they mean it and they don't keep doing it. Hope that clears everything up for you.)
Where Tonya Craft is concerned, in the end, the Court (or more accurately, the jury) got it right. But not before the Courts got it very, Very, VERY wrong.
Addendum: More on the Craft case from William Anderson. As in the Nifong/Duke debacle, Anderson deserves a lot of credit in exposing the travesty of justice that could have deprived an innocent woman of her liberty and forever labeled her a pedophile/deviant.
Tonya Craft still has a long legal road in front of her. She's got to get her children and her life back.
In the process of restoration, which hopefully will be quick, I sincerely hope she kicks some prosecutorial ass.
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