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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.
About the author
Betsy Hester lives in Washington, North Carolina. TWENTY-ONE BOXES, her first book, is based on a subject she taught to high school English students for more than two decades. She holds a bachelor's in English Education from East Carolina University, has an advanced degree in "Mindfulness for Educators" from Antioch University, and is a nationally board certified educator. Betsy has been honored with numerous teaching awards and taught literature, writing, drama, research, and critical thinking to hundreds of students in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Now retired, she lives and writes from the home she shares with her husband of forty-two years, Joe, an attorney and the love of her life. They enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren, riding bicycles, gardening, and doing their part to save the environment.
