Twenty-five years ago, close to 50 people were arrested in Kern County in a child molestation ring. Scores were convicted in high-profile trials, and dozens got prison sentences of more than 50 years. Some were sentenced to hundreds of years. Then, everything changed.
The defendants were prosecuted with virtually no evidence other than the testimony of children, often their own children. The kids, most between 5 and 12 years old, were placed in protective custody, and not allowed to see family members. After the trials, they were placed in foster care.
But when they turned 18, the children no longer were under the control of the county. One by one, they began to tell the same story: That they never had been molested, that overzelous sheriff's deputies, Child Protective Services workers and prosecutors had persuaded them to testify to things that weren't true.
That's the basis of a documentary set to premerie Sunday night on MSNBC.
Actor Sean Penn is its executive producer narrates the film.
Almost all the convictions were overturned, including that of Jon Stoll, who served 20 years behind bars.
Stoll is at the center of the film, entitled Witch Hunt.
Bakersfield's Jack and Jackie Cummings are part of the movie, too. They had three kids and, they say, were living a normal life until some of their friends were accused of molestation.
"Consequently my wife was babysitting the kids for the mother-in-law, and she was going to court to see what was going on,'' Jack Cummings said. ''That turned us into suspects.
''Before we knew it, the police were watching our house, and we had the imminent feeling we were going to be arrested."
The county took their kids for about a year.
"Every night you would wonder if they were okay, if they were crying," says Jackie Cummings.
The Cummingses never were arrested. But their friends spent years in prison, and that's a thought that haunted Dana Nachman and Don Hardy Jr., co-directors of the film.
"I can't imagine how hard it must be when you have no voice,'' Nachman said. ''And when you're in prison that's absolutely what you have, no voice."
"Nobody listens to you. You're shut away. That's the purpose of prison."
The documentary shows the defendants' struggle to prove their innocence.
"We wanted the attorney general, the FBI, somebody," said Jeff Modahl, whose conviction was overturned. "We almost didn't care who, if somebody would come in and investigate this."
It happened when Donny Youngblood was a patrol deputy. Now he's sheriff, and says mistakes might have been made in the investigations.
"I certainly buy into that there probably were some things that were done that we don't do the same today," he said.
Jackie Cummings has one thing to say to skeptics.
"I think just not to pre-judge people," she said. "Know that there's always two sides to a story. Don't believe everything your told. That's always good."
The documentary will be shown this sunday at 7 p.m. on MSNBC.
