To:71203.3162@CompuServe.COM,witchhunt
Subject:Excerts of outrageous medical testimony
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Most outrageous parts of
Commonwealth vs. Violet Amirault and Cheryl Amirault LeFave
Middlesex Superior Court, Criminal Actions.
Excerts from trial conducted from the end of May through early June of 1987
(unless otherwise noted).
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From "Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology" 2nd edition by S. Jean Herriot
Emans, M. D. and Donald Peter Goldstein, M. D. Little, Brown, and Company
Boston 1982:
p. 45 (Chapter 3. Vulvovaginal Problems in the Prepubertal Child).
Vulvaginitis.
"Vulvovaginitis is a common problem in the prepubertal child. The proximity of
the vagina to the anus and the thin atrophic vaginal mucosa make the young
child particularly susceptible to vulvovaginal infections with a mixed
bacterial flora. After a child reaches the age of 3 years, mothers tend not to
supervise bathing and toilet functions a closely as before, so that perineal
hygiene is often inadequate"
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Dr. S. J. Emans concerning finding of vulvitis in all three girls testifying.
Direct Examination by Mr. Hardoon:
(page 5-26 Friday June 5, 1987).
A.Yes, She had vulvitis which is inflammation of that area.
Q. An with respect to vulvitis, can you tell me, in your experience, how
common it is in children under the age of five or six?
A. It's not common in normal practice.
...
(page 5-27)
Q. All Right. And in terms of evaluating a child for sexual abuse as you do in
your employment, do yo consider the finding of vulvitis in a child under the
age of six to be a significant finding?
Mr. Balliro: I object.
Court: overruled:
The witness: Yes, being that about ten to fifteen percen t of children who are
coming in for sexual abuse do have vulvitis.
[from page 5-41]
Q. Well, the question is simply, did you consider it to be unusual to see
three children from the same school under the age of six years of old, all of
whom displayed vulvitis?
Mr. Balliro: I object.
Court: overruled.
The witness: Yes.
[From cross by Ms. Balliro]]
page 5-42
Q. But it is not unusual, is it not, to find vulvitis in children who have
made no complaints of sexual abuse?
A. That is correct.
Q. And when you say that you found it significant or unusual that three
children from one school had vulvitis when you examined them, you have no idea,
do you, Dr. Emans, of how many girls between those ages attended that school,
do you?
A. No I don't.
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Jonathan G. Harris
Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT Rm 66-450
25 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
harris@athena.mit.edu (617)253-5273 Fax 253-9695
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