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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Tide of Time, August 20, 2007
When history passes over it is people who are forgotten. Looking back on any period in history it is difficult, but not hard, to see the faces of individuals and how they felt about the defining moments of their lives. When the Kniffens and McCuans were tried and convicted in Kern County, Califoria of crimes of child abuse it couldn't have been a more perfect time for it to happen. At that time in the early 1980s no one knew just how life-threatening one allegation of child abuse could be. All it took was an allegation by a paranoid schizophrenic and highy mentally unstable woman who could not tell fact from fantasy and two families were torn apart and used as scape-goats for the government's inability to end child molestation. There are some similarities between this case and the McMartin trial as well as other so-called "child-sex rings" of the 1980s that resulted in "witch-hunting" trials but this case saddened me more because of the abuse of legal power over its people. The entire justice system of Kern County violated every civil right law in the constitution and got away with it in the name of "saving children." This film more so than any other on the subject shows just how the children were coerced into believing that they had taken part in acts of depravity the likes of which no one can even imagine. Finally what you didn't see about the McMartin trial was just how the children had false memories planted in their mind and used to put away their innocent parents for 13 years. What is so sad about this story is that those 13 years will never be given back to those families torn apart simply because no reversal of errors can turn back the hand of time. There was a moment when Brenda Kniffen in the film begins to give up hope and she admits to herself and her husband that their sons childhoods have passed them by and that their only hope left is to hope for the happiness of their sons wherever they may be. There are wrongs beyond redemption and what the California "justice" system did to these families can never be forgiven.
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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kern County Witchhunts, April 1, 2006
This review is from: Just Ask My Children [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I recently viewed this movie on TV and decided to order it for my own use. You see the Kern County Witchhunt was not limited to Kern County; it extended into Tulare County also. I know because my family has been living a nightmare because of false charges of child molestation since 1985. God instructed me to create a support group for innocent prisoners in 1989 which I did. I wrote several articles about false accusations in Tulare County for a local Tulare County newspaper and one article for a small newspaper in Bakersfield, California concerning the subject of false charges of child molestation. My son, daughter, and me was on a local radio station in Kern County two times discussing this subject. I named a name of local police officer who terrorized little children into lying about their parents. As a result, it was pay back time for me and after they along with others succeeded in brainwashing my grown daughter into saying I told her not to testify, that God would not like it and that she could be gotten for perjury, I spent over 5 years in prison for witness intimidation for allegingly stating the statements that my daughter claimed I said, but I never even talked to her about testifying at all. I was totally innocent and am currently on supervise release for another 2 years. Anyone who does not believe that thousands of parents in Kern,Tulare,Kings,Fresno,Butte,San Bernadino counties were imprisoned on false charges of child molestation is highly wrong because it truly did occur in the Child Abuse War of the 1980's. This movie is really a representation of the thousands who suffered as a result of this abuse against the family and I am thankful that this excellent movie was made.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Justice is not always served ..., August 30, 2010
I remember the time in the 1980s when so many day care centers and parents were being accused of child sexual abuse. This family suffered greatly, but they were not alone. The McMartin trial comes to mind. It was, indeed, exactly like the witch hunts in Salem Massachusetts. The saddest part is that children are very suggestable. Well-intentioned but misguided psychiatrists planted thoughts in many children's minds of abuse that never happened. As with the oldest son in this family, confusion reigned in their minds as to whether or not it actually happened. Families were torn apart and lives destroyed or permanently damaged. Time is one thing no one can get back once it has passed. These children were torn from their parents with NO proof of any wrong doing. The accusations of a mentally deranged grandmother were outrageous, but the Kern County police just raced forward like a bunch of drunken zealots. The head prosecutor even said this case could be "career making". Well, it wasn't as he was forced to resign. This movie is excellently acted and not only portrays the horrible side of such an incident, but the fact that the parents could still hang onto hope and their faith, even in the most preposterous and trying of situations. An egregious wrong was done this family, but it has been righted as best as it can be. What I cannot believe, however, is that the McCuen's children remained with their deranged grandmother who started it all. A must-see movie.
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