Gerald Amirault

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Gerald A. "Tooky" Amirault (b. March 1, 1954) was convicted in 1986 of molesting and raping eight 3 and 4 year-old children at the Fells Acres Day Care Center in Malden, Massachusetts, run by his family. He and his family deny the charges, which supporters regard as a conspicuous example of day care sex abuse hysteria.

He and his wife Patricia, a schoolteacher whom he married in 1977, have three children: Gerrilyn, Katie, and P.J.

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[edit] Accusations

Testimony in the cases included stories of Amirault dressed as a clown and raping children with knives, and ritual slaughter of animals. It relied heavily on testimony from young children extracted through long sessions with therapists. The Amiraults insist they were victims of the day care sex abuse hysteria that swept the US in the 1980s.

[edit] Hysteria

Many believe Amirault was railroaded, including writer Dorothy Rabinowitz, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2001, partly for her coverage of the case. The case was also the major topic of her book about miscarriages of justice, No Crueler Tyrannies (ISBN 0743228340).

[edit] Parole refused

In 2002, then-Acting Governor of Massachusetts Jane Swift refused to commute Amirault's sentence, despite a unanimous vote in favor of his release by the state's parole board. This was during her political campaign to remain in office.

[edit] Release

He was ultimately released from the Bay State Correctional Center on Friday, April 30, 2004, 18 years after his conviction. His sister and mother, Cheryl Amirault LeFave and Violet Amirault, were convicted of related charges in a separate trial, and both released from prison in 1995.

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