The Legend of Robert Halsey:
A cautionary
tale about the dangers of “false-conviction chic”
Robert Halsey, convicted
by a jury of sexually abusing two young boys on his school-van route near
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has become something of a folk hero in a political
movement whose rallying cry is that there is a “witch hunt’
in this country over child sexual abuse. In spite of this strident rhetoric,
the actual evidence against Halsey was overwhelming. Incredibly detailed
statements taken less than 40 hours after the initial disclosure, later
corroborated in multiple ways, render the “suggestibility”
defense absurd. The credible testimony of five children was corroborated
with physical evidence and medical evidence diagnostic of sexual abuse.
Disconfirmation Bias:
Lona Manning’s
one-sided defense of Robert Halsey
Lona Manning, a free-lance
writer, came to Robert Halsey’s defense in a May 2002 Web publication
called Crime Magazine.
She labeled Halsey “innocent” and called his crimes “imaginary.”
Beyond these strongly worded assertions, however, Ms. Manning provided
no testimony or facts to respond to the powerful medical evidence of anal
scarring. Her claims about the children’s testimony are refuted
by hundreds of pages of actual transcript that is described and analyzed
in detail below. Over 300 pages of testimony are included as PDF files.
Her account has significant other flaws and errors, detailed below.
Junk
Science and Anal Scarring
Ms.
Manning’s claims about the medical evidence in this case are pure
junk science. There is strong medical evidence that boys were sexually
abused.
Imaginary
Evidence about Beavis & Butthead
Ms. Manning fabricated the original airdate of a television program
as part of an elaborate argument why 5-year-old boys would say “freaking
asshole bait.” Ms. Manning’s argument collapses by virtue
of this falsehood.
Four Massive Misrepresentations of the Children's Testimony
Ms. Manning makes four broad claims about the children’s
testimony. A comprehensive examination of the trial transcript demonstrates
that all four claims are massive misrepresentations of the record. Hundreds
of pages of evidence are described (and provided in full) to respond to
the handful of snippets upon which Ms. Manning rests her claims.
A Preposterous "Child Suggestibility" Claim
The “child suggestibility” claim at the heart of Ms. Manning’s
position requires more than a conspiracy between parents, law enforcement
agencies and others, but an expansive and almost instantaneous kind of
“suggestion”—to children in Massachusetts and in Florida—
that is far beyond anything ever hypothesized about suggestibility, let
alone proven.
Other
Child-Hostile Techniques
Ms. Manning belittles the testimony in which children identify various
weapons with specificity, and where William explains how to get to Halsey’s
house. She also engages in extreme Nit-picking, dismissing the entire
testimony of one girl because she did not remember the color of the duct
tape.
How
to Lie with Photos
Ms. Manning’s photos of the three blocks on Nobody’s
Road may appear to prove something, but they are meaningless. First, they
leave out the obvious way around the blocks. Second, they omit the completely
accessible isolated field where the boys described the sexual assaults.
Ms.
Manning's Wild Claims about the "Tickle" Incident
The bus company owner used the word tickle “euphemistically.”
The police chief said Halsey could “get ten years” for what
he did to the girl. But Halsey was quietly transferred and the children
were told he was on “sabbatical.” Ms. Manning adamantly denies
all of this, employing words like “imaginary” and “figment
of imagination.” Read the transcript pages that prove her wrong.
Ten Other Factual Errors and Material Misstatements
ManningDebunked.Org
Written and created by Professor Ross E. Cheit
Taubman Center for Public Policy
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island, 02912
© 2002 Ross E. Cheit
This site was last revised October 3, 2002
New: "False Conviction Chic in the Berkshires"
Revised: Ms. Manning's Misrepresentations about this Web site
