Presumed Innocence Lost

The presumption of innocence that is a cornerstone of our justice system sometimes gets kicked to the curb in a flurry of sensational allegations and the public outrage that follows. There is an uncomfortable tendency to equate allegations with guilt as soon as an official accusation is made.

The reasons for withholding judgment until the accused has had his or her day in court - particularly when the charges have a single source rather than overwhelming evidence to support them - became painfully clear last week in Brooklyn. A School Custodian accused by an 8-year-old girl of having repeatedly raped her was arrested and charged by police and the District Attorney's Office and pilloried in the news media as a monster, and the school's Principal was suspended for allegedly covering up what had occurred.

Before the week was over, however, holes began appearing in the little girl's story. The Custodian, Francis Evelyn, was released from jail and the charges against him were dropped. Suddenly, an unblemished record during two decades at P.S. 91 served as a reminder of why we shouldn't have been so quick to convict him in the court of public opinion, rather than a mere counterpoint to the horrible crime of which he had been accused.

Mr. Francis expressed outrage of his own that police had sought to induce him to confess to the crime by telling him they had found DNA evidence proving that he had sexually assaulted the girl. As unnerving as it may have been to Mr. Francis to be tested psychologically by such a claim, however, the cops had the law on their side: it is permissible to lie to a criminal suspect in order to gain a confession of wrongdoing.

Greater restraint needs to be shown, though, on the part of prosecutors and the media in prejudging such cases. As heinous as the accusations were, the fact that the girl's claim unraveled so quickly shows what a slender thread they were stitched with. The desire to protect children at a time when the news is full of cases where they actually are violated by adults should not overwhelm caution against making such accusations without stronger evidence than existed here.

The school's Principal, Solomon Long, like Mr. Francis has a good reputation. He still finds himself in limbo, however, because of a conclusion that he was remiss in not reporting a previous sexual assault allegation made by the same girl.

Mr. Long said that he hadn't reported that claim because he didn't believe it. The Department of Education countered that he should have nonetheless lodged the claim to allow a probe.

This might sound good on the surface. We seem to recall, however, numerous occasions on which Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has described Principals as his "school leaders."

Leaders, as we understand the term, have the latitude to exercise their discretion. And so if there is a credibility problem here, it would seem to rest with Mr. Klein rather than Mr. Long.