The state of North Carolina has an opportunity to correct a grave miscarriage of justice. Andrew “Junior” Chandler was convicted in 1987 of bizarre crimes against young children. 

The prosecution was driven by an inexperienced pediatrician who made an elementary error on her physical examinations. Recently, the state’s top child abuse pediatrician has explained to the courts why the conclusions were faulty. 

During the 1980’s, there was national hysteria over “satanic ritual abuse”. The stories elicited from the children, aged three to five, by misguided interrogations, could not possibly be true. The case was tried in a circus atmosphere. Mr. Chandler was one of many individuals wrongly convicted during the era. More than three decades later, his is the only such conviction that has not been reversed. 

This legend of a bogey-man has no basis in reality. If Mr. Chandler remains in prison, legal historians who study the obvious mistakes of the 1980’s will hold North Carolina up to ridicule. The good citizens of your state do not deserve this. Please use your power as governor to release Andrew Chandler.