When [Barbara Standke] confided her concern about the scratches on her son's groin to Violet Amirault, proprietor of Fells Acres, she was told such things happen to kids. Both Vi and her daughter, Cheryl, she said, "laughed and told me not to worry."

One day after Rosemarie Hopkins and her daughter, [Phaedra], stepped before the cameras last week, a co-worker of Rosemarie's husband whispered in his ear, "Tell Phaedra not to be afraid. I know what she's going through, because I was abused as a kid."

PAIN REMAINS: Phaedra Hopkins, left, who was 4 when she attended Fells Acres, weeps with her mother, Rosemarie Hopkins Robinson, during a press conference at the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. AP PHOTO FREEDOM? Acting Gov. Jane Swift has been asked to commute the sentence of convicted child molester [Gerald Amirault] `Tooky' Amirault. STAFF PHOTO BY GEORGE MARTELL