TWENTY-FIVE YEARS after they were convicted of a crime that never happened, Fran and Dan Keller were formally exonerated on June 20 in Austin, Texas.

The couple’s prosecution in 1992 was part of a wave of cases across the country amid an episode of mass hysteria known as the Satanic Panic. Beginning in the 1980s, accusations flew that the childcare industry had been infiltrated by bands of Satanists hell-bent on brainwashing and sexually abusing young children. The Kellers’ exoneration closes a decadeslong chapter of profound injustice for a couple that paid an exceptionally high price for the credulousness of local law enforcement.

“I still can’t believe it’s happening,” Fran, now 67, said on Tuesday morning while driving with her husband to sign the legal paperwork. She’s still wary; they’ve been waiting for this day for so long she isn’t yet sure it is real. “I guess I’m just tired of having to hang on for so long.”

Dan, 75, is slightly more upbeat — he always thought this day would come. He recalled a sleepless night in prison in 1995 when he said he heard God. “He said, ‘You’re going home, but I have some things to sort through first.’” Dan said he slept soundly that night. “We have to try to not have doubt in our life.”

The exoneration is the first for the nascent conviction integrity unit of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office under the new DA, Margaret Moore. Court documents filed Tuesday announced that there is “no credible evidence” against the Kellers. Moore said she personally reviewed the case and believes exoneration “to be a just outcome.”

Fran and Dan Keller were each sentenced to 48 years in prison for the alleged sexual assault of a 3-year-old girl who was an occasional drop-in at their home daycare center on the rural outskirts of Austin. The child initially accused Dan of spanking her “like daddy” used to, but under intense and repeated questioning by her mother and a therapist, the story morphed to include claims of rape and orgies involving children. From there, the number of children alleging abuse increased and the accusations grew even more lurid and confounding: The Kellers had sacrificed babies; they held ceremonies in a local graveyard; they put blood in the children’s Kool-Aid; Fran cut off the arm of a gorilla in a local park; they flew the children to Mexico to be sexually assaulted by military officials.

When I began reinvestigating the case in 2008 for the Austin Chronicle, I was stunned to learn that police and prosecutors who had worked the case back in the early ’90s still believed some of the most outrageous allegations leveled against the Kellers. The Austin Police Department refused to release its investigative report on the case, forcing the Chronicle to take the agency to court. We ultimately won the right to full, unredacted access.

After reading the report, it was not hard to understand why the department had fought to keep it secret. It was an ALL-CAPS, run-on-sentence fever dream full of breathless accusations and absent any actual investigation that could prove or disprove the claims. On multiple occasions, the lead investigator took the girl who accused the Kellers to lunch at McDonald’s before setting out for drives in the neighborhood where she would point out locations: Yes, she had been abused there; yes, she recognized the cemetery where the Kellers had killed and buried babies; yes, many of the residents of the quiet neighborhood were in on the hi-jinx. Not once did investigators question the child’s statements.

My reinvestigation of the Keller case turned up evidence that would ultimately lead to their release from prison. The only vaguely physical evidence that tied the couple to any wrongdoing was the testimony of a young emergency room doctor named Michael Mouw, who had examined the girl and concluded there was damage to her vaginal area that could be the result of sexual abuse. As it turned out, the doctor was wrong. Mouw told me that not long after the Kellers were convicted, he attended a medical conference where he learned that what he had interpreted as signs of abuse were nothing more than a normal variant of female genitalia.

Mouw’s medical opinion had fundamentally changed, offering the Kellers an avenue to challenge their conviction. During a hearing in the summer of 2013, he unequivocally stated that there was no doubt that the child’s genitalia was normal and that he’d gotten it wrong when he examined her in 1991. He said that he tried to reach out to the Austin Police Department after he realized his error but was rebuffed by the detective, who was “convinced they were guilty.”

After the 2013 hearing, DA Rosemary Lehmberg — who had been head of the office’s child abuse unit at the time of the Kellers’ prosecution — ultimately agreed that the couple had not received a fair trial, and they were released shortly before Christmas that year. While there was no doubt the couple would not be retried, over the intervening years, Lehmberg declined to take the final step and exonerate them, claiming to my former editor that she could not “find a pathway to innocence” for the Kellers. She was essentially trying to prove a negative — seeking evidence that would prove a crime never happened.

Without a formal exoneration, the Kellers struggled to rebuild their lives. They were still saddled with a conviction for sexual assault of a child, which made it nearly impossible to find work or a place to live. Without an income, they had to scrape by with the help of family and food stamps, and they have not been able to get the kind of medical attention they need for health issues prompted in part by abuses they suffered in prison.

The court filing Tuesday should pave the way for the Kellers to collect roughly $1.7 million each in state compensation for the 21 years they spent behind bars.

Still, the outcome should not be considered a victory for the criminal justice system. With a few notable exceptions, the law enforcement officials in Austin — police and prosecutors, as well as the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals — failed the residents of the city and more importantly the Kellers by accepting the shocking allegations on their face and abdicating their duty to seek the truth of the matter.

If it weren’t for the dogged support of people like Mouw and attorney Keith Hampton — who has spent more than six years toiling on the case for free in an effort to bring about this exoneration — the Kellers would still be in prison, and that is where they would have died.

Contrary to what many people might think, you don’t have a right not to be convicted of a crime you did not commit. For the most part, the Constitution is silent on this point. Instead, the focus is on whether a person received a fair trial. Did you have at least minimally competent lawyers? Were you afforded the ability to cross-examine witnesses against you? If so, then your conviction — even for a crime that never happened — should stand. Once a person is convicted, the system works only to reinforce that outcome. That remains the reality for untold thousands who sit innocent behind bars today.

“I’m very happy for them, and this is huge for the ultimate resolution of this case,” Hampton said of the Kellers. “We can’t give them their 21 years back, but we are doing everything else we can to restore them. When we finally do that, then they’ll be in a position to forgive us for what we as a society did to them.”

Top photo: Fran and Dan Keller sign their exoneration paperwork in Austin, Texas, on June 20, 2017.

Link

Oh. My. God.

That's appalling.

shit like this is why I am starting to be opposed to the death penalty.

There was a case in Jordan MN back in the late 80s where a daycare owner was accused of sexually abusing children. At the hands of an overzealous county attorney and creative psychologists it spread to the owners family and then something like 40 members of the community. In the end, it turned out to be fabrication. Something to keep in mind for those who want to put child molesters in the wood chipper without a trial.

It is cases like this, specifically ones that rely on very young children's testimony as the only evidence, that make me have doubts about cases like the one in the story below.

This swim instructor just received four life sentences--four--for allegedly (well, not allegedly anymore as he was found guilty) touching six year olds inappropriately while giving them swimming lessons.

Florida swim instructor sentenced to life for molesting three 6-year-old girls
Published June 18, 2017 Fox News

A former swim instructor was handed four life sentences in a Florida court on Friday after being convicted of molesting three of his students in his class at the Deerfield Beach Aquatics Center in 2015.

The three victims, all just 6 years old at the time, testified to have been groped inappropriately by Francisco de Aragón underneath their swim clothes. Lawyers for De Aragón defended this as a technique and he later testified that there was possibly “accidental contact” and that his actions may have been misinterpreted.

After a three-day trial and four hours of deliberations this past week, de Aragón, 28, was found guilty of all five criminal counts against him – including sexual battery of a child, which comes with an automatic sentence of life imprisonment.

However, de Aragón – who rejected a plea deal that would have resulted in a 25 years behind bars – remains adamant that he is innocent.

“This is not me. There is no justice in this sentence. There is no justice in putting a life sentence on a man who is innocent,” he protested. “The facts in this case show innocence, not guilty, not that I am some monster, not that I am some sort of molester, some secret pedophile.”

“This is a case where they got it wrong,” his father, Frank de Aragón, told local station CBS4. “An innocent man, who is trying to help people learn and save themselves, is now in prison for life.”

Francisco’s wife, Savannah de Aragón, who is reported to have fled the courtroom in tears, expressed concern for her husband’s safety given his child sex offender status.

“I’m scared and terrified he is going to get hurt in there,” she said.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017...-year-old-girls.html

We had one of these cases in San Diego about the same time. It was the longest running trial at the time, IIRC.

The members of one church, and the CEO of Jack in the Box, were the moving forces.

It's incredible that something like this gets going and can't be stopped. It cost the County a fortune, the participants unimaginable grief, and put an indelible stain on Child Protective Services and child psychiatrists.

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:
shit like this is why I am starting to be opposed to the death penalty.

I am already there. It is surprisingly easy to get it wrong, when the state decides to go full out against a litigant who is not wealthy.

I don't know what happened in the early '90s to cause that hysteria, but got fully hold of the national psyche. It isn't even believable - child sacrifice and "cut the arms off a gorilla." In California there were allegedly underground bunkers where ritual abuse took place. Of course, child abuse is terrible and does occur, but allegations of it are no excuse to turn off our brains.

What a nightmare. The other day I was in a restaurant bathroom and some parent had stupidly let two small boys, probably 4 and younger, go into the bathroom alone. I was thinking that I could be accused of something and my life would be ruined. It's really sad that as an adult male you're made to feel like you can't have any interaction with a child for fear of some accusation.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:
shit like this is why I am starting to be opposed to the death penalty.

I am already there. It is surprisingly easy to get it wrong, when the state decides to go full out against a litigant who is not wealthy.

both my parents (when public defenders) did a lot of work with the innocence project. The stories are just terrible.

This is precisely why I never agreed to be alone with the young child of a woman I dated about 20 years ago. The kid was "off" in some way I couldn't define and his dad was a total scumbag. She would always say I was being paranoid. Yeah well I never had to worry about any bullshit stories so if I'm paranoid, so be it.

Just look up the McMartin Preschool case, the granddaddy of them all.

1.7 million for each of these people doesn't seem like much when you consider that it ruined their lives, kept them incarcerated for years, required lots of legal expenses, etc.
They need to go after the prosecutors responsible if they did this with a reckless disregard for the truth. Putting some of them in jail is the only way to bring a stop to these sort of cases.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Just look up the McMartin Preschool case, the granddaddy of them all.

1.7 million for each of these people doesn't seem like much when you consider that it ruined their lives, kept them incarcerated for years, required lots of legal expenses, etc.
They need to go after the prosecutors responsible if they did this with a reckless disregard for the truth. Putting some of them in jail is the only way to bring a stop to these sort of cases.

The McMartin case, the series of "satanic child sexual abuse" cases in Kern County (CA), and these others are not examples of "reckless disregard for the truth"; they're blatant demonstrations of what happens when cops, social workers, attorneys (including those providing services for the defendant), and the finders of fact, have little or no FORMAL training in behavioral analysis based interview and interrogation that constitutes "best practices."

If these people knew what techniques lead to false confessions and what needs to be done to demonstrate the credibility of admissions (including statements from victims and witnesses), such miscarriages of justice would be far less likely to occur. Most of these people don't receive this kind of training and when they do, there's no management directives requiring them to use it. Change that attitude and stress the importance of avoiding contamination errors to verify credibility, and social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and others might see less instances of "false memory syndrome" too. Not rocket science, but very basic stuff.

quote:

Satanic Panic

quote:

mass hysteria

I'd say.

It would be hilarious if not for cases like this.

... it's why my neighbor and self, when the local little ones start to play out in the street unsupervised - often - leave our respective yards and retreat inside our homes.

Both of us fit into 'that' male demographic.

Both of us have discussed these situations and are very aware of at least one parent who would best described as being historically hysterical ... the kids are great not so the ignorant and irresponsible parenting that occurs in this immediate area.

Sucks.

Worse for those that are innocent, yet have been persecuted, accused, charged and convicted.

How many times have we read of similar occurrences where it was even made up, solely to get even?

No thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:


The couple’s prosecution in 1992 was part of a wave of cases across the country amid an episode of mass hysteria known as the Satanic Panic.

Was this part of that era where children were coached and instructed to "remember" abuse that had never actually taken place?

Not necessarily coached, more like coaxed. They were asked leading questions like "The bad man touched you there, didn't he?" and of course the kid would agree. Studies were done afterwards showing that you could get kids to easily agree to anything. "The unicorn flew into the room and ate your lunch, didn't it?" and the kid would agree. 1.7 million is nowhere near enough. The man was 50 when he was put away and is now 75. Such a travesty.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:


The couple’s prosecution in 1992 was part of a wave of cases across the country amid an episode of mass hysteria known as the Satanic Panic.

Was this part of that era where children were coached and instructed to "remember" abuse that had never actually taken place?

Yes, and most of these interviews were conducted by social workers that had received little or no formal (behavioral analysis based) training. Note that these same incidents were occurring about the time alleged victims of childhood sexual abuse were being "discovered" through the use of hypnosis and "regression therapy" by mental health "professionals."

In addition to the monetary damages, the prosecution and LEOs involved with providing "evidence" should be sent to prison for 21 years.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:


The couple’s prosecution in 1992 was part of a wave of cases across the country amid an episode of mass hysteria known as the Satanic Panic.

Was this part of that era where children were coached and instructed to "remember" abuse that had never actually taken place?

Yes.

It was as blatant miscarriage of justice as the Salem Witch trials. Those responsible (e.g., the police, DA, the "therapists") were never held personally accountable, just like in the case discussed in the OP. Ray Buckey, one of the accused was in jail for five years during the investigation and trial.

I think everyone involved in the persecution (yes, I wrote PERSECUTION because that is what it was) should have gone to jail for term equal to the time the legal cloud hung over the lives of the defendants.

This too is why I have misgivings about the death penalty. If I were a juror, unless corroborated by irrefutable and unimpeachable physical evidence, doubt I'd ever support a sentence of death.

Read about the Satanic Panic HERE

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:
shit like this is why I am starting to be opposed to the death penalty.

I've basically been opposed for my entire adult life, and stories of this kind are the main reason why.

John Grisham's first work of non-fiction, The Innocent Man, is a good read on this subject.



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