We studied Libby S. as a delinquent some eight months after her
mother and step-father had been acquitted of murder. These
unfortunate people had been held and tried almost entirely upon
the testimony given by this girl. It goes without saying that
they were very poor and not ordinarily self-assertive, and so did
not obtain competent legal advice. We were naturally interested
in this remarkable affair and were glad to be able to get at the
truth of the matter and bring about forgiveness and
reconciliation within the family circle.
Libby was now under arrest for stealing and for prostitution.
Her statement to us was that she had been immoral and wanted to
be sent away to an institution where she would be kept out of
trouble. She had been working in a factory. Her mother and
step-father were temperate and the latter was always good to her
and to her brother. She told about being extremely nervous when
she got to thinking about different things, and maintained that
she worried so much at times that she did not know what she was
doing. Later we learned from her of her little sister's death,
of the fact that the child was not really her sister, and that
her mother had not been married to her present husband until the
time of the trial, although for long they had been living
together.
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