October 19, 1993: Prisoners Of Silence is screened.
The above documentary in the Frontline series presents a comprehensive debunking of Facilitated Communication, a technique that was supposed to be a breakthrough in the treatment of autism. FC is junk science, but its greatest fault is that it has led to a large number of false allegations of sexual assault, including rape. The 2007 Wendrow case is one of the most notorious, and it is disgraceful it should have happened nearly a decade and a half after this programme was broadcast.
The February 2010 murder of Jude Mirra by his mother Gigi Jordan was even worse, although the police were not called in until after the deed was done.
Here is a transcript of the programme, and here is an abstract of what is called a confession by Janyce Boynton, the woman who facilitated Betsy Wheaton.
There are a number of other cases of Facilitated Communication in this database.
Back To False Rape Timeline