ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a hypothetical nightmare. It is absurd. Nonetheless, the logic contained in it has led to some very real nightmares—especially for those accused on irrational bases of having sexually abused young children. The irrationality and false beliefs illustrated in hypothetical nightmare have resulted in a new form of horror that complements the horror of actual child sexual abuse. Excellent magazine and newspaper articles, movies and at least one Frontline television special do provide some counterbalance to the hysteria. So do many excellent sources for understanding what happened to Kelly Michaels as a result of accusations that she quite literally "did the impossible" at the Wee Care Center in Maplewood, New Jersey, in the middle 1980s. The chapter concentrates on the Michaels case, because so many of the problems that occur in the other lurid day-care center cases are so well illustrated by the ordeal suffered by Michaels.
