"A riveting legal thriller, Assumption of Guilt evokes a new landscape in fiction: the possible sexual molestation of nursery school children by their beloved teacher. Harold Mehling skillfully handles this complex social dilemma in this, an emotionally charged novel of suspense." "When Laurie Coles is arraigned on grotesque child abuse charges, the sedate upstate New York town of Hudson Ferry becomes inflamed. Most deeply stricken are the parents, who find it not only difficult to speak with their children about such a taboo subject, but must also confront their own sense of guilt. Did they send their children to the Snug Arms Nursery School to stimulate their minds or just to get them off their hands for a few hours each day?" "The court thrusts the defense of Laurie Coles onto a Hudson Ferry lawyer, Henry Hull, who is more experienced in contracts and mortgages than in criminal law. Hull believes a guilty plea would shorten Coles' probable prison term, but she maintains that she is innocent. She pleads not guilty, and her reluctant attorney is catapulted into a battle in which his future may be as much at stake as that of his client." "Written in the tradition of Anatomy of a Murder, this taut courtroom drama, with its rich roster of characters and shocking revelations, will hold you in suspense until the gavel drops for the final time."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved