BOSTON (WHDH) - A day after officials heard emotional testimony at a pardon hearing, Gov. Charlie Baker has withdrawn a pardon petition for two siblings previously convicted of sexually abusing children at a Malden day care.
Gerald Amirault, his sister Cheryl Amirault LeFave, and their mother Violet Amirault, were convicted in the 1980s of abusing eight children at the Fells Acre Day Care Center.
Gov. Baker proposed pardons for the brother and sister in November, echoing concerns about the convictions because of the methods the prosecutors used to question the children.
But on Wednesday morning, the day the Governor’s Council was expected to vote to approve or deny the pardon, Baker’s office withdrew their petition.
“Following yesterday’s hearing, it is apparent that there are not sufficient votes from the Governor’s Council to support a pardon for the Amiraults,” Governor’s Office Press Secretary Terry MacCormack said in a statement. “Therefore, the Governor is withdrawing his pardon petition.
At a pardon hearing Tuesday, several victims came forward with emotional testimony, pleading with the Massachusetts Governor’s Council to deny the pardon.
“He is without a doubt the person that raped and molested me,” said Jennifer Bennett, who was four years old when she was abused.
“Endless nights of crying myself to sleep, thinking of my son telling me what had happened to him with the fear that he was bad and that I would not love him anymore,” said Barbara Standke, the mother of one of the victims. “To hear the governor was considering a pardon was a cold, hard slap in the face.”
James Sultan, the lawyer who represents the Amiraults, said his clients were victims of a witchhunt hysteria and unscientific methods to question children.
“Those interviewing techniques have now been found to be grossly improper and would never be used today,” Sultan said.
Neither Amirault nor LeFave were present for the hearing.
Following the withdrawal, in a statement, Sultan said he and his clients were “extremely disappointed in the governor’s decision” and that they had wanted the Governor’s Council to vote on the matter.
“Cheryl, Gerald, and their entire family have suffered grievously over the past four decades as the result of false accusations that were obtained through the improper, coercive, and suggestive manipulation of young children,” the statement read in-part. “They did not get fair trials. They have suffered enough. They should be pardoned.”
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