In 1989, the Little Rascals Day Care in Edenton, North Carolina, was suddenly thrust into the national spotlight. One day, the owner’s husband disciplined a boy at naptime, and soon an angry mother suggested that it was more than just a slap. Rumors quickly morphed into charges of unimaginable crimes against dozens of little children. Panic consumed the town, as the police, therapists, and parents relentlessly pressured the children who attended the day care to name their teachers responsible for multiple allegations of abuse. The Edenton Seven were caught up in the accusations, including nineteen-year-old teacher Robin Boles Byrum. She spent nearly a year in jail under an enormous bond meant to pressure her to ‘tell the truth’ while she had a new baby at home. Eerily reminiscent of the hysteria that gripped Salem, Massachusetts, during the witch trials of the seventeenth century, the Little Rascals case ultimately became the longest and most expensive criminal trial in North Carolina history.
Three decades later, Betsy Hester met Robin Byrum Couto and together, they joined forces to tell the truth. In this book, Betsy shares insights from legal and medical experts and reveals the facts from twenty-one boxes and bound testimonies from the courtroom long since buried away. Intertwined with the case history is Robin’s never-before-told story of her harrowing journey through the court system. Finally, this book serves as a modern-day warning about the danger of mass hysteria and the consequences of a judicial system that blindly refused to hear and seek the truth.
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Contents
Foreword xi
PART I: THE DELUSION
A Mutual Fate 1
Robin’s Story-The Box of Memories 9
Robin’s Story-Mere Happenstance 15
Strange Behavior and Invisible Crimes 21
Robin’s Story-A Quiet Tranquility 27
Robin’s Story-A Waiting Game 33
The Slap 41
Collective Hysteria 51
Accused 57
Robin’s Story-Charged! 61
Conspiracy and Panic 69
Constructed Memories 87
The State v. Byrum 95
Robin’s Story-‘The Thin, Gray Dress’ 99
Robin’s Story-My Bond 107
Robin’s Story-Trials and Pleas 115
The Box of Evidence 121
The Court of Public Opinion 129
Trial by Ambush 141
Robin’s Story-Dismissed! 149
PART II: THE TRUTH
Twenty-One Boxes 155
‘I Don’t Remember’ 159
Christopher Bean for the Prosecution 175
The Medical Experts 185
The Dolls! 199
The State Rests 209
A Necessary Conversation 219
Attorneys for the Defense 227
The Mirror Test 243
A Lunch to Remember 249
Robin’s Story-Bloom Where You’re Planted 255
The Other Accused 263
A Call to Action 269
Acknowledgments 273
Notes 277
Об авторе
Robin is the central figure and subject of TWENTY-ONE BOXES. She was eighteen years old when the daycare scandal erupted in Edenton, North Carolina. While waiting for the case to be dismissed, she went on to earn a degree in medical technology, married the love of her life, and they raised her two boys together. Robin retired a few years ago and enjoys sharing a wonderful home in the country in eastern North Carolina with Eddie. Her boys and their families all live close enough to allow her to spend lots of time with her grandchildren. Her passion in life is her family, gardening, and playing with those grandkids