Notes About The Poem
If you want to know about a period not so long ago when day-care providers all over the country were being thrown in jail, sometimes for years, for accusations that sound crazy to us today, one article is "The Last Victim" in National Review (author Rael Isaac). I took the part of the story on Ileana and made this poem from it.
Tell the truth, Ileana
Ileana Fuster ran day care in her house
Frank Fuster, a businessman, was her spouse
The preschoolers denied anything was amiss
Though one told her mom that Ileana gave a kiss.
But therapists played games with the kid's heads
Lurid tales ensued, where angels fear to tread.
Frank and Ileana prayed to Satan, while he wore a mask
Juries didn't think of questions they should ask.
Ileana was pretty, healthy with shiny hair
Health went downhill in that Jail's tender care.
She got sores, infections, was rarely hosed clean:
The attorney Janet Reno, didn't change that scene.
Ileana held out almost a year, said confession would be a lie.
Then therapists came in with new methods to try.
They told her to imagine she did the deeds
Step by step they implanted mind weeds.
She broke down, said it was all true
Added details involving snakes too.
Testified against Frank at the trial
He saw his wife betray him, walk that crooked mile.
He sprang up, screamed "You lie", but all in vain
Jailed for life, no rescue for his pain
Ileana left, to Honduras she flew
Ten years later, she recanted anew.
She said there was no crime, her mind was clear
Made a 40 page deposition, but then threats came near
A messenger from Florida came uninvited
Told Ileana that under Reno she could be extradited.
He got her to sign a letter, again admitting crime
Frank still jailed, forever, for all time.
He's been beaten by other inmates, one time almost died
Our justice system took us all for a ride.
So Ileana, you are free today to choose
Its Frank and you who got the real abuse.
But you can withdraw the lie, Reno is no more
Though Frank will never get out of that prison door.
There's a lot wrong with our justice system, if it can be so deceived
You can read the details of other cases, so really hard to believe
Daycare-givers accused of the most insane acts
How can our juries confuse such lunacy for facts?
And how can a woman be thrown into solitary for months at a time?
If there was justice, that would be the crime.
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