Lee Jones

Repeatedly confronted by his mother, 12-year-old Michael Roop finally admitted that a family friend had raped him on a recent trip to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

Michael's confession wasn't a surprise. For weeks after his return home his mother had been telling him that "he had to tell the truth and that "he needed counseling because of "what happened to him at the hands of the friend, Lee Jones."

She was suspicious, she'd later tell police, not because a grown man wanted to take a 12-year-old to the beach alone nor because Michael acted any differently after returning, but because of rumors she'd heard that Mr. Jones had "messed with other boys" in a tiny, isolated town in West Virginia called Gauley Bridge. Mr. Jones lived there and up until a few months before the beach trip, so did Michael.

According to Michael, the questions from his mother started the minute he returned home and didn't stop until he confessed that Mr. Jones had fondled him and forced him to have oral sex in their hotel room.

And while Michael's mother seemed anxious to know if anything had happened to Michael, it's difficult to piece together how long she waited before telling anyone. The trip was in late June, but social services in North Carolina didn't launch an investigation until the middle of October, after receiving a report from a counselor at Michael's school (Mrs. Roop later told a state social worker she'd reported the allegation to his counselor a few weeks before). A social worker interviewed Michael and his mother and as required by law, reported the allegation to the police.

From there, the case was assigned to Len Sloan, a detective in Myrtle Beach who said at trial that he had no experience investigating sex crimes or child abuse claims. His case notes show he had trouble pinning down details in Michael's story and he never interviewed Michael because his department wouldn't pay his travel expenses.

But still, when a prosecutor in Myrtle Beach expressed doubt about Michael's claims and whether they had enough evidence, Mr. Sloan assured him that other people found the boy to be credible (the social worker, for example, told Mr. Sloan he believe Michael's claims). He then pressed for a court order to bring Mr. Jones back to Myrtle Beach to face charges.

Meanwhile, in Gauley Bridge, the West Virginia State Police were busy building a case of their own. Within days of learning of Michael's accusation, they located nearly a half-dozen other witnesses-mostly young men--also claiming that Mr. Jones had raped them. By the time he was arrested in early February, 1998, police had located just under a dozen accusers with claims of sexual abuse spanning nearly fifteen years.

The scandal rocked Gauley Bridge, dividing friends and neighbors. The story gained statewide coverage and after Mr. Jones' eventual conviction, wire stories about the case were picked up by the New York Times and the Washington Post. And while the media put the high-profile case under an intense light, there are few indications that reporters ever questioned the weight of the evidence that was mounting against Mr. Jones.

Many Gauley Bridge residents did question the evidence, however. Mr. Jones was a well known figure in town, but not just because he was only one of about 750 living there, but because he was also their chief of police.