Twenty-One Boxes - by Betsy Hester & Robin Couto (Hardcover)

About the Book

In 1989, Little Rascals Day Care in Edenton, North Carolina, was suddenly thrust into national spotlight when rumors morphed into charges of unimaginable crimes against dozens of little children, leading to the longest trial in NC history.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"Informative, important, powerful. Hester synthesizes her decades of passion and years of research around this miscarriage of justice into a captivating book that weaves together the story of one of the victims of this modern-day witch hunt with the vast and overlooked evidence exonerating the Edenton Seven."

--Maria Flanagan, Attorney at Law, North Carolina