The triggering incident occurred in 1980 when Becky McCuan disclosed that her grandfather, Rod Phelps, had touched her inappropriately. The family doctor confirmed the abuse. No charges were laid. Becky's mother, Debbie McCuan arranged for her daughter to obtain counselling. But Debbie's step-mother, Mary Ann Barbour, who had a history of mental illness, felt that her step-granddaughters were not sufficiently protected. She obtained the assistance of the Mothers of Bakersfield, a group concerned about child abuse. Jill Haddad took interest; she was the spokeswoman for the group, and had many relatives working for local police forces.
Ms. Barbour claimed that Alvin and Debbie McCuan were not good parents, and that Debbie's day care license should be revoked. She asked the Social Services Department make a surprise inspection. The social worker, Betty Palko, found no major infractions and took no action to revoke the license.
Mary Ann Barbour became distressed when she heard that the McCuans had taken their two daughters on a supervised visit to see the alleged abusing grandfather and his wife. She ended up in the psychiatric ward with a psychotic episode. At a custody hearing in 1982-MAR, she was able to get custody of her step-grandchildren. County officials filed child endangerment charges against the McCuans. At this point, Ms. Barbour started to believe that a large "sex ring" existed in Kern County. "There is a group of people involved in molesting the girls. They are all in on it! "
The girls, Becky and Dawn were repeatedly questioned. They confirmed what their Step-grandmother had said. Over many months, their disclosures became increasingly bizarre. They said that had been hung from ceiling hooks, beaten with belts, rented to strangers in motels and been forced to act in "kiddy-porn" movies. They claimed that they were abused by a sex ring which involved their grandparents, their parents, their father's brothers, friends of their parents (Scott & Brenda Kniffen), the social worker who did the inspection, a co-worker of their father, and two unnamed welfare workers.
On 1982-APR-6, Becky was driven around the area to the homes of the alleged sex-ring members. She said that there were pornographic pictures, a sex toy and other evidence in the Kniffen home. The Kniffens were arrested two days later.
In their six month investigation, police officers ignored many factors:
The social worker and her boyfriend (their father's co-worker) were tried separately. Their lawyer introduced Ms. Barbour's medical records into the trial. This evidence is believed to have convinced the Kern County District Attorney to drop charges against the couple. The medical records were then sealed and not permitted to be used by he defense in the subsequent trial of the McCuans and Kniffens.
The Kniffen sons, Brian and Brandon, were repeatedly and suggestively interviewed. When questioned separately, each was told (falsely) that their brother had disclosed abuse by their parents and the rest of the sex-ring. They were told that they could go home again if they testified about the abuse. These manipulative and coercive interrogation methods are now known to generate false allegations. But in early 1983, basic research into child interview techniques had not been completed. (1) The Kniffen boys finally caved in under the pressure and said that abuse had occurred.
During a supervised visit Brandon Kniffen was asked by his grandmother whether the charges were true. He answered "No. None of those things ever happened.". The grandmother was arrested for discussing the case; she was not allowed to testify at the trial, and had her visits were terminated for years afterwards.
The trial was held during 1983 and 1984. Dr. Bruce Woodling testified that his "wink response" tests on the children proved that sodomy had occurred. In the test, the anus is touched with a swab and a "wink" reaction is looked for. This test has since been totally discredited. Controlled tests have revealed that anal winking occurs in both abused and non-abused children. The McCuans and Kniffens were convicted on multiple charges and given sentences of 200 years and more.
Brian Kniffen later recanted, and said that he had been told what to say at the trial and had been promised that he could be with his parents again if he cooperated. His brother Brandon has also recanted. They have stated that the abuse never occurred and that they were led and coerced to testify as they did.
In 1986, a study by the Attorney General revealed that there had been 23 major procedural errors in the McCuan/Kniffen case and similar "sex-ring" cases that the police claim to have uncovered in the early 1980's.
Clearly, the McCuans and Kniffens have been given extremely long jail sentences for crimes that almost certainly never even happened.
On 1995-JUL-15, an evidence hearing will be held on a request for a new trial for the McCuans and Kniffens. The defense attorney will be Mike Snedeker, co-author of Satan's Silence (2). The hearing will focus on the two issues that are common to most MVMO cases: