After investigation by a police officer and social worker, the conclusion was the allegations were valid and parents were urged by the authorities to have their children evaluated for abuse.
A total of 90 children, after many therapy sessions (in some cases as much as ten months' worth), also made allegations resulting in accusations against dozens of people besides Kelly and charges against seven adults (Bob and Betsy Kelly, three workers at the day care, a worker at a local Head Start facility, and the son of a judge).
[citation needed] During the trial, children were asked to testify about events that had occurred three years previously, with memories "refreshed" by therapy sessions, meetings with the prosecution and repeated discussions with their parents.
The eight-month trial against Bob Kelly was the most expensive in North Carolina history, ending in conviction on 99 of 100 charges and twelve consecutive life sentences.
[1][2] The Little Rascals Day Care Center was managed by Betsy Kelly, with help from her part-time plumber and golf pro husband, Bob.
In February, three additional children made accusations, and Kelly was arrested in April 1989, charged with child sexual abuse.
These included Betsy Kelly; the day care facilities' cook (Dawn Wilson) and two teachers (Robin Byrum and Shelly Stone); Scott Privott, the son of a local judge, owner of a video store and personal friend of Bob Kelly; and Darlene Harris, who managed a nearby Head Start Program facility.
"The attention became national...May (1991) with the broadcasting of a documentary, 'Innocence Lost,' as part of the PBS series Frontline, which suggested that abuse of the extent alleged by the state was impossible.
Testimony lasted nine months with 12 children providing descriptions of sexual and physical abuse: babies ritualistically killed, victims taken out on boats and thrown overboard, and inappropriate trips in hot air balloons.
"[4] Dawn Wilson, the daycare center's cook and one of the accused, refused all plea bargains and elected to stand trial.
Scholars have proposed that these accusations were part of a broader phenomenon, a general fear or hysteria called Satanic Panic.