Gov. Baker withdraws pardon request for siblings convicted in daycare sex abuse case

Governor Charlie Baker withdrew his controversial pardons for members of the Amirault family just one day after a contentious Governor Council’s hearing on the issue.

“It’s apparent there are not sufficient votes from the Governor’s Council to support a pardon for the Amiraults. Therefore, the Governor is withdrawing his pardon petition,” Lt. Governor Karyn Polito announced at Wednesday’s meeting of the Governor’s Council.

It was a stunning reversal. Baker’s proposal to pardon Gerald Amirault and his sister Cheryl LeFave for their convictions in the Fells Acres Day Care Sex Case in the mid-1980s is now off the table, just one day after an hours-long hearing before the Governor’s Council.

During their hearing, some councilors criticized the proposed pardons -- which the Parole Board voted not to recommend -- and aired frustrations at Baker over what they described as a lack of explanation for his decision.

Baker, who last month said he believed the pair should be pardoned because he has “grave doubt regarding the evidentiary strength of these convictions,” announced he would scrap his plans just minutes before the council was set to convene an assembly on Wednesday.

“I’m so excited, I’m so lost for words today,” Jennifer Bennett said.

Jennifer Bennett is a Fells Acres Victim. She testified at trial against the Amiraults when she was child.

“They were found guilty for a reason. Because they are guilty. We the children lost our childhoods to courtrooms. We lost our childhoods to a monster that raped us. And molested us. And did horrible things to us,” Bennett said.

The Amiraults have long contended they were wrongly convicted, that their convictions were the result of overzealous prosecutors who coerced victims into making false accusations.

Attorney James Sultan said in a statement: “This was their last chance to obtain some peace, some justice, and some closure as they live out their lives. Sadly, the rug has been pulled out from under them one final time. How sad, and how cruel.”

But the Amirault’s prosecutor, Laurence Hardoon said, the evidence in the Fells Acres case was strong, that two juries got it right, and that the Amiraults do not deserve pardons.

“All of the misleading claims that somehow investigators had tried to mislead the children and coach them and coerce them is utter nonsense because the kids had all spoken about the abuse before they were ever connected with the investigators,” Hardoon said.

Both Gerald Amirault and Cheryl LeFave are listed on the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry.

If they were pardoned, they would have been removed from the Registry.

Gerald Amirault is scheduled to complete the conditions of his parole in 2023.

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