Bo Peep

From: Elizabeth M. PetersonBel AirThank you for your Aug. 25 editorial referencing the mishandling of the Bo Peep case, "Mishandling of Bo Peep case teaches a painful lesson."I agree reform is needed in the way investigators handle allegations of child abuse at day-care centers. Let me add the media also needs to exercise restraint in how the allegations are reported.I believe in the Bo Peep case there was a direct relationship between how the allegations were reported and the hysteria which gripped the community for over two years.

BOSTON -- Oh darn, I guess I'm not going to be able to wear that diaphanous costume with the teeny-weeny skirt and the plunging neckline after all. The "Garden of Evil Spiritina" is all sold out for this Halloween. There's barely even time to get "Li'l Bo Peep" - or should I say "Li'l Bo Peep Show" costume - shipped overnight from my Web merchant. I could, however, get that "Hottie Little Red Riding Hood," with bustier and boots, to come over the river and through the woods to this grandmother's house.

The Court of Special Appeals has ordered Harford Circuit Court to grant the Baltimore Sun Co. a hearing to argue why a sealed civil suit against the owners and workers of the former Bo Peep Day Nursery of Bel Air should be opened to the public.The Baltimore Sun Co., which publishes The Harford County Sun, took the case to the state court last month after the Circuit Court failed to act on the Sun's requestfor a hearing to argue why the Bo Peep suit should be opened to the public. The lawsuit and the Sun's motion were filed nearly eight months ago.The Special Appeals Court ruling, issued Feb. 25, was written by Judges Alan M. Wilner, John J. Bishop Jr. and Paul E. Alpert.

Miss Piggy will never win a race. But Mary Bo Quoit might.Same horse.Miss Piggy, the Carroll County yearling whose progress is being chronicled in The Sun, has swapped her barnyard moniker for a permanent name -- the one she would take to the track.Call her Mary Bo Quoit now. The name is a marriage of pedigree: Her dam is Mary Bo Peep; her sire, Waquoit.The filly's name, one of more than 500 submitted by Sun readers, is simple and straightforward -- the way her Baltimore owner hopes she'll run."

If the Bo Peep Day Nursery case shows us anything, it may be that reform is needed in the way investigators handle allegations of child abuse at day care centers.The case apparently is closed now that parents who allege that their children were abused at Bo Peep have dropped a multimillion-dollar suit against the operators of the now-defunct day care center.Since the case hit the news in 1987, there has been a clamor fromsome in the community to change the way day care child abuse investigations are handled.

Harford Circuit Court Judge William O. Carr has signed a second order sealing a civil suit filed against the former owners and four workers of the closed Bo Peep Day Nursery in Bel Air.Carr initially sealed the entire case the day the suit was filed, July 12, 1990.That order was in effect for 60 days or until all defendants in the suit filed responses.The day-care center, which operated in the 100 block of Hickory Avenue, was shut down by the state in November1989 amid allegations of child sexual abuse.

Parents of four children who state health officials concluded were sexually and physically abused at a now-closed Bel Air day-care center are seeking more than $400 million in civil damages against the center's operators and two employees.The lawsuit, originally filed a year ago and unsealed yesterday after objections by the Baltimore Sun Co., alleges 18 counts of negligence, assault, false imprisonment, conspiracy and other charges. The original suit named as defendants the former owners and operators of Bo Peep Day Nursery, Deborah and Patrick Cassilly, and four employees.

The state special prosecutor found no criminal misconduct in the investigation of possible crimes against children who attended the Bo Peep Day Nursery in Bel Air, but he criticized the handling of the case by town police, in one instance calling it "inexcusable."The report by Stephen Montanarelli came in response to complaints by parents of some of the eight children who were found by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to have been sexually and physically abused at Bo Peep.After a series of hearings and appeals beginning in 1987, owner Deborah Cassilly lost her license and the day-care center closed after a decision of the Maryland Court of Appeals in November 1989.

Mary Bo Peep, a homely old broodmare with a knack for delivering winners to the track, has produced her latest hope -- a leggy filly born Wednesday at Liberty Run Farm in Carroll County.The little bay arrived in a dimly lighted stall on a bed of straw in the dead of night -- prime foaling time. Nine days overdue, the filly hit the ground hungry. Born at 2: 30 a.m., she took her first shaky steps within an hour and then began nursing. Handlers marveled at the 80-pound newborn's appetite and nicknamed her "Miss Piggy."

A multimillion-dollar civil claim against the operators and teachers at the former Bo Peep Day Nursery in Bel Air, where it was alleged that as many as 10 children were molested, could be argued in court for years, attorneys say.Parents of four of the children are seeking more than $400 million in damages. The parents, in the 18-count claim against former Bo Peep owners Deborah and Patrick Cassilly and two former teachers, allege negligence, assault, false imprisonment and other charges.The children, according to the suit, "continue to suffer nightmares, anxiety, depression, crying spells and an array of fears and phobias."

She has yet to run a race, but nearly 500 people are calling her names already.Names like My Baybie, Miss Freestate and Chessie; Pennant Fever, Crabcake and Hon.Everyone wants to christen Miss Piggy, a 7-month-old local filly who needs a racing name to replace her barnyard moniker. Stumped, the horse's owner last week appealed to readers of The Sun for help.Suggestions streamed in. Horseplayers and homemakers, teachers and trainers offered names for Miss Piggy, the Carroll County weanling whose life is being chronicled in The Sun. A total of 498 entries were received from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The foal snorted, kicked at her stall and turned in dizzying circles in a desperate search for her dearest ally. Mother was missing, and the frightened young filly wanted her back.She pawed the sawdust floor, snorted again and reared back on her long hind legs, "Hi-yo Silver" style. Then she whinnied -- a long, shrill scream that pierced the thick, muggy air, a scream that would have brought an old broodmare running, had she not been two fences and several pastures away.September is weaning time at breeding farms across the country, a traumatic period for mares and foals -- the equine equivalent of the first day of school, except that these youngsters never come home to mama.

Mary Bo Peep, a homely old broodmare with a knack for delivering winners to the track, has produced her latest hope -- a leggy filly born Wednesday at Liberty Run Farm in Carroll County.The little bay arrived in a dimly lighted stall on a bed of straw in the dead of night -- prime foaling time. Nine days overdue, the filly hit the ground hungry. Born at 2: 30 a.m., she took her first shaky steps within an hour and then began nursing. Handlers marveled at the 80-pound newborn's appetite and nicknamed her "Miss Piggy."

Head down, ears up, eyes closed, the pregnant broodmare dozes in the midday sun. Mary Bo Peep is asleep on her feet -- no easy task, considering the 90-pound thoroughbred stirring restlessly inside her.Mary Bo Peep doesn't budge. She has given birth many times before, and the warmth feels good on her aging back. Nothing stirs save the unborn foal, kicking at its mother's sides. Her belly dancing, the old mare slumbers on.It's spring and, like 1,500 other thoroughbred broodmares throughout Maryland, Mary Bo Peep awaits the stork.

This ain't no story of celebrationYou see, where I've been and what I've seenLittle Red Riding Hood never got to her grandmom's houseThe big bad man kidnapped herGoldilocks never got back homeShe got caught in a crossfireLittle Bo Peep never found her sheepShe took drugs and diedYou see, in my neighborhoodIt ain't no fairytaleTiffany Latimore is an eighth-grade student at Old Court Middle School.

From: John S. KarasAberdeenIn response to the letter of Elizabeth M. Peterson, which appeared in your issue of Sept. 8, 1991 ("Bo-Peep column lauded"), I feel compelled to make some comment concerning one of her allegations.I would certainly not in any way attempt to influence either the supporters of Bo-Peep or the supporters of those who believe that children were abused in that center. I would not even argue that Peterson has expressed some valid concerns with respect to the way certain aspectsof this case have been handled by certain employees of the Department of Social Services and Health and Mental Hygiene, as well as the Attorney General's Office.

Circuit Judge William O. Carr said he would rule within three weeks on The Baltimore Sun Co.'s request to unseal a civil suit filed against the owners and some employees of the closed Bo Peep Day Nursery inBel Air.On Friday, lawyers representing The Sun, the former owners of the day care center, and the children and parents who have filed the civil suit presented their arguments to Carr at a hearing on a motion made 11 months ago to unseal the case.The...

BEL AIR -- A Harford County judge agreed yesterday to unseal a civil suit against owners of the Bo Peep Day Nursery, which the state closed three years ago after a hearing examiner found that children had been physically and sexually abused there.The ruling opens a file that has been closed since July 1990, when four parents suing the Bel Air day-care center filed a motion asking Circuit Judge William O. Carr to bar the press and public from reading the court documents.Judge Carr ruled yesterday that the court has no authority or constitutional basis for sealing the suit.

From: Elizabeth M. PetersonBel AirThank you for your Aug. 25 editorial referencing the mishandling of the Bo Peep case, "Mishandling of Bo Peep case teaches a painful lesson."I agree reform is needed in the way investigators handle allegations of child abuse at day-care centers. Let me add the media also needs to exercise restraint in how the allegations are reported.I believe in the Bo Peep case there was a direct relationship between how the allegations were reported and the hysteria which gripped the community for over two years.

If the Bo Peep Day Nursery case shows us anything, it may be that reform is needed in the way investigators handle allegations of child abuse at day care centers.The case apparently is closed now that parents who allege that their children were abused at Bo Peep have dropped a multimillion-dollar suit against the operators of the now-defunct day care center.Since the case hit the news in 1987, there has been a clamor fromsome in the community to change the way day care child abuse investigations are handled.