Day-care sex-abuse hysteria
The day care sex abuse hysteria was a phenomenum of the 1980s involving false accusations of sexual abuse and often bizzare accusations of satanic rituals.
McMartin preschool trial
The McMartin preschool trial started in 1983, when a mother with a history of false accusations (and possibly mental illness) accussed the McMartin family of sexually abusing her child. After seven years of criminal trials, no convictions were made, and all charges were dropped in 1990. It is one of the most famous of all the sexual abuse cases, and it is, as of 2005, the longest and most expensive trial in the history of the United States.
Little Rascals Day Care Center
The Little Rascals Day Care Center was a day care facility in Edenton, North Carolina. In April 1989, Bob Kelley was arrested and charged with child sexual abuse. By the end of the investigation, six other people were charged, including a woman who was in a child custody case with her police officer husband, who had no connection to the facility or the Kelleys. On May 23, 1997, the prosecution dropped all charges related to the Little Rascals case against Bob Kelley and his wife.
Causes
There is always anxiety over leaving your young children with strangers. The creation of large numbers of day care centers and more mothers taking jobs created a climate of anxiety and guilt.