It was wrong from the start. There are too many similarities with Wenatchee. Styron expressed concern about the role of mental health therapists and counselors hired by the state in the Wenatchee cases. This wasn't zeal but single-minded obsession, where the need for convictions overtook any concern for justice. Wallace reproached the media for being reluctant to question authority.
Child abuse sells newspapers.
Dr. Phillip Esplin, a forensic psychologist who testified in two Wenatchee trials, seemed to stun the audience when he described how state-sanctioned mental hospitals and therapists have induced accusations from children. The ACLU, which was silent throughout the Wenatchee trials, yesterday added its name to the call for a federal probe. But to abandon constitutional rights in these investigations is to abandon any hope for justice for the entire community. P-I reporter Mike Barber contributed to this report.