scroll for descriptions of abuse
Victims speak out against Amirault
Going public, they oppose commutation
By Michele Kurtz, Globe Staff, 8/3/2001
CAMBRIDGE As a little girl, Jennifer Bennett sometimes bolted awake at night, screaming ''Help'' and believing her bed was on fire the punishment she says day care workers threatened if she told that they were molesting her.
Bennett, now a grown woman with a son of her own, wept and raged yesterday as she and two other victims in the Fells Acres Day School child abuse case publicly identified themselves for the first time.
The three and their families, hoping to persuade Acting Governor Jane M. Swift not to let Gerald Amirault out of prison, insisted he abused them, memories that still traumatize them.
''This family raped me, molested me, and totally ruined my life,'' said a trembling Bennett, her firm voice at times laced with anger. ''We weren't coaxed; we weren't lying. We're telling the truth and always will.''
Amirault was convicted of raping eight children at his family-operated day care center in Malden and has served 15 years of a 30- to 40-year sentence. In July, at his request, the state Parole Board unanimously recommended commuting his sentence. If Swift agrees with the Parole Board, she would recommend commutation to the Governor's Council, which makes the final decision.
....
Amirault's sister, Cheryl Amirault LeFave, and his mother, Violet Amirault, were also convicted in a separate trial. In 1995, LeFave and Violet Amirault were released pending a new trial. Violet Amirault died in 1997. LeFave was permanently released last year when the state decided not to oppose a motion to reduce her sentence.
''I think it's an absolute disgrace to let anyone out of prison for such a disgusting crime,'' said Brian Martinello, 21, who testified during the 1986 trial that Amirault sexually abused him when he was a young boy.
Yesterday, Amirault's lawyer reiterated what the Amiraults have asserted all along that the testimony during trial was suspect and that the prosecution's case lacked physical evidence.
....
The victims, who have remained anonymous until now, said the prospect of Amirault's release drove them to come forward. Most of the children are now 18 or older.
''It has taken 15 years of counseling to learn how to cope with this before ever putting my face in the public eye,'' said a weeping Phaedra Hopkins, her mother's arm wrapped around her shoulders.....
The abuse, parents said, left their children frightened and hollow.
''I watched this beautiful little boy lose his innocence and his self-esteem to the point where he hated himself,'' Barbara Standke said of her son, Brian Martinello. ''And my only tiny consolation was that [Amirault] was being punished and that he could not do this
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