Baran and Halsey child abuse cases
The Legend of Robert Halsey - Cheit, Ross E.- Journal of Child Sexual
Abuse, v9 n3-4 p37-52 2001 Abstract: A brief narrative description of the
journal article, document, or resource. Examines the criminal conviction of
Robert Halsey for sexually abusing two young boys on his school-van route near
Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Based on a comprehensive examination of the trial
transcript, suggests that the credulous acceptance of the "false
conviction" legend about Robert Halsey provides a case study in the techniques
and
tactics used to minimize and deny sexual abuse.
_http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSe
arch_SearchValue_0=EJ672707&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ672707_
(http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini
.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ672707&ERICExtSearch_SearchT
ype_0=no&accno=EJ672707)
False-conviction chic in the Berkshires - Robert Halsey was convicted in
1993 of sexually abusing two boys on his school van route in Lanesboro, Mass.
There was a mountain of evidence against him, and he was sentenced to two
consecutive life terms. Now a growing movement is trying to suggest that
Halsey was unjustly convicted. A country that cherishes the presumption of
innocence still needs to learn something about the presumption of guilt.
There is a dark side to the growing movement on behalf of persons falsely
convicted by the criminal justice system: phony false-conviction claims. There
is just such a phony claim currently brewing in the Berkshires....As
long-time residents of the Berkshires will remember, Robert Halsey was
convicted
in 1993 of sexually abusing two boys on his school van route in Lanesboro,
Mass. There was a mountain of evidence against him. The two boys... had
clear medical signs of the abuse. Their disclosures were extremely detailed
and
they were written up well before the boys were involved in any repeat
interviews, therapy sessions or other measures which are commonly cited as
sources of “child suggestibility.”....Various parts of the boys’ testimony
were corroborated by three other children, two of whom had moved to Florida
nine months before Halsey was arrested.
_http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2002-03/02-009.html_
(http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2002-03/02-009.html)
The Legend of Robert Halsey: A cautionary tale about the dangers of “
false-conviction chic”
_http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Manning/_
(http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Manning/)
_http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/ctf/bib.html_
(http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/ctf/bib.html)
Baran received a fair trial By William W. Simons - Pittsfield 9/13/03 “I
have spent my professional life (going on 50 years) as a prosecutor, defense
lawyer and Superior Court judge….I was the presiding judge in the Superior
Court trial of Bernard Baran that took place in Pittsfield, extending for
10 days in January 1985. Baran was charged with rape and indecent assault
and battery on six children while he was a child-care worker in a Pittsfield
day care center. He was originally represented by the Public Defender’s
Office but chose to obtain private counsel, Leonard Conway of Westfield.
After his conviction on these cases involving five of the children, an appeal
was taken on Baran’s behalf by Attorney David O. Burbank of Pittsfield, also
an experienced and able trial and appellate counsel. The appeal was
decided on March 27, 1986, affirming the convictions. Mr. Burbank sought
further
appellate review and that application was denied by the Supreme Judicial
Court on May 30, 1986….The concern that young victims are prone to
suggestibility pales in comparison to the suggestibility of grown and
experienced
newspapermen. A more serious injury is that distorted claims of injustice that
seek freedom for Baran are not without consequences for society and this
community, should they succeed.” _http://www.berkshireeagle.com/_
(http://www.berkshireeagle.com/)
