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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page overview of the film. The author of this paper relates the major events of the film and compares it to the HBO docudrama “The McMartin Trial”. In each film the subject is the alleged sexual abuse of children. In “Innocence Lost” the accused, Robert Kelly is found guilty despite the existence of practically no hard evidence. In “The McMartin Trial” the members of the McMartin family are absolved of guilt. This paper emphasizes the relative worth of the documentary verses the docudrama format and concludes that while Kelly serves his consecutive life sentences in jail, the McMartin’s serve theirs in an environment in which they will never be able to fully escape societal suspicion and disdain despite their proclaimed innocence. No sources are listed.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: AM2_PPinnoce.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
"Innocence Lost: The Verdict" is the PBS documentary of the circumstances surrounding an alleged child sexual abuse case at a child care center
in Edenton North Carolina. The investigation and trial which would follow became some of the highest publicized in the country. The lesson which becomes apparent in "Innocence Lost:
The Verdict" surrounds not just the horrors of child abuse, however, but the horrors of the mass frenzy which often results when such cases arise. In many ways
this frenzy is controlled by emotion and not necessarily by the facts of a particular case. "Innocence Lost: The Verdict" details the
sentencing of Robert Kelly, the owner of the Little Rascals Day Care Center, who was tried and convicted of sexually abusing many of the children who were placed in the
care of his facility. After a trail which lasted the better part of a year Kelly is sentenced to twelve consecutive life terms. In turn, the viewer of
"Innocence Lost: The Verdict" is sentenced to significant doubts about the validity of Kellys guilt. From the interviews with the mothers of the children who made the accusations,
to the recreated testimonies of the children, to interviews with law enforcement officials, to clips from the trial itself, the film sheds doubt on the circumstances and proceedings surrounding the
case. The implications of the charges levied in the "Little Rascals" case are indeed overwhelming. In all some twenty adults
would be accused of taking part in a complex child abuse ring and enacting some four hundred counts of sexual molestation of a minor. Of this number, however, only
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