"Sister Jeanne had heard from other people that she wanted to defect," she said, adding, "There were some inaccuracies in the story."

"If these parents didn't rent the houses, the kids couldn't go there," Sister Jeanne said.

This year, with eight months to go, Sister Jeanne already has her ear to the ground.

Instead, the meeting included the boy, his grandmothers, Sister Jeanne and two other nuns.

In a news conference afterward, Sister Jeanne indicated that the most important outcome of the meeting may have been a softening of hostility.

Sister Jeanne led Elian to the grandmothers, who were waiting in a second-floor room with toys and coloring books.

"She must have been in the hospital three times and came back and just recouped," Sister Jeanne said.

Sister Jeanne: "You thought you were getting away with it, Jim."

Sister Jeanne claims that Grandier has bewitched her, and the other nuns do the same.