Disturbing End of a Nightmare

Jordan, Minn., is a town of Rockwellian prettiness, nestled amid stands of hardwood trees and rolling bluffs. With its four churches, lagoon park and first-rate public school system, the Scott County hamlet (pop. 2,900), 35 miles from Minneapolis-St. Paul, would seem to be a model American community. But over the past year and a half, the town’s idyllic image has been eroded by allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children. In all, 24 adults were charged by the local prosecutor with molesting 37 youngsters. Some of the defendants were couples accused of engaging in sexual activities with their own children. Local authorities took 25 children from their parents, placing them in foster homes outside Jordan.

When some of the children alleged last October that one to six youngsters had been murdered, almost all of the child-abuse charges were dropped pending a new investigation by State Attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey III. Last week Humphrey’s task force, which included agents from the FBI and the Minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension, released a 29-page report concluding that no murders had been committed. Moreover, the study harshly criticized the original investigation. Said Humphrey: “The manner in which the Scott County cases were handled has resulted in it being impossible to determine, in some cases, whether sexual abuse actually occurred, and if it did, who may have done these acts.” The investigation had been so bungled, said the Humphrey report, that no charges would be refiled against the accused.

Jordan’s ordeal began in September 1983, when Christine Brown, a mother of five, complained to police that Garbage Collector James Rud had molested her nine-year-old daughter. Rud, who had twice before been convicted of child molesting, soon implicated Brown and a group of other citizens in tales of orgies and sex games with children.

Under the supervision of Scott County Attorney Kathleen Morris, the number of arrests for alleged child sexual abuse grew. Fear spread through the once tranquil community. Children related detailed incidents of sodomy, incest and bestiality. One young girl reported being forced to eat a cat and a pet gerbil, “fur and all.” A ten-year-old boy said he was kidnaped and driven to a party where whip-wielding women in see-through clothes forced him into sexual acts with other children and adults that were photographed.

Rud pleaded guilty and was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison. But Robert and Lois Bentz, the first couple to be tried, were acquitted last September. Under brutal cross-examination, some of the prosecution’s young witnesses, including the Bentzes’ own sons, 10 and 6, recanted or told confusing stories. One neighbor’s eleven-year-old boy, who had claimed he had had oral sex with Robert Bentz, testified that his story was “a big lie.”

Just as the case of a second couple was going to trial last October, Prosecutor Morris, who had been alternately praised for her persistence and berated as overzealous, suddenly announced that the county was dropping all charges against the remaining 19 defendants. The reason: to spare the children further trauma and safeguard the investigation of the alleged homicides committed by members of the sex ring.

Much of the blame for the clumsy local investigation has been attributed to Morris and her office. The prosecutor apparently played a major role in conducting intensive, prolonged, exhausting interviews with the children. In one case, authorities talked to a nine-year-old girl 20 times, yet there were only four written reports on her sessions. According to the Humphrey report, children were sometimes interviewed together and had a great deal of contact with one another, which could have resulted in the “cross-germination” of allegations. Under questioning from Humphrey’s task force, many of the children retracted their stories. One boy who had claimed to have witnessed a teenager’s grisly murder admitted to basing his story on a television program he had seen. He said that he lied about the murder to please Morris’ investigators. Said an angry Morris: “It’s easy to believe a child when they retract because that’s what adults want to hear. It’s not easy to believe when they’re telling you the truth.”

The report also found that Scott County police made many arrests without gathering corroborating evidence. “Surveillance techniques were not utilized,” the report said. “Search warrants were rarely obtained.” To make up for a lack of evidence in one case, Morris is believed to have offered two defendants dismissal of all charges in return for information about the alleged murders.

While most of Jordan’s citizens were relieved last week that the investigations seemed to be over, some expressed anger at what they considered a witch-hunt. Others were concerned about the still unresolved fate of twelve children sequestered in foster homes and institutions. Some remained suspicious of neighbors. Said Kathie Voss, a nursery school teacher: “I thoroughly believe that there were both guilty and innocent people involved, and now we’ll never know who is who.” Seven former defendants have filed lawsuits against the county, demanding up to $336.3 million in damages. (The targets–the county board, Morris and her investigators–have hired Lawyer Jim Martin to represent them.)

Humphrey last week described the initial investigation as a tragedy. “The children have clearly suffered,” he said. “They have been subjected to a process which undermined their credibility, and as a result, individuals who may have committed sexual abuse will not be prosecuted.”