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Satanic ritual abuse (or SRA) is alleged to be the work of a network of Satanists who engage in brainwashing and abuse of victims, especially children, throughout the world.

Claims of SRA remain controversial. Law enforcement sources, criminologists, psychologists, and religious affairs commentators generally consider this belief false or at least grossly exaggerated.

The term Satanic Ritual Abuse is often used interchangeably with sadistic ritual abuse, a broader term that refers to any and all ritualistic abuse, whether or not there are elements of satanic imagery.

Prevalence

There are no firm prevalence figures on satanic ritual abuse, since its existence is doubted in some quarters, and the definition of what constitutes satanic ritual abuse vary between researchers.

The statistics most directly relevant to the question of the prevalence of satanic ritual abuse comes from two studies in Britain. A BBC survey of British police forces in the late 1980s found that of 186 cases of network abuse where either multiple abusers or multiple abused children were known to each other only five involved claims of ritual or satanic abuse. . In another study, 29% of the 211 cases of organised child sexual abuse reported to researchers by British police, social and welfare agencies from the period of 1988 to 1991 were designated "ritual abuse" cases by respondents .

Empirical research on substantiated sexual abuse cases in daycare centres also provides prevalence statistics on ritual abuse. Finkelhor and Williams collected a sample of 270 substantiated cases of sexual abuse in daycare centres throughout America, of which 17% involved multiple perpetrators and 13% involved ritualistic elements Faller’s exploratory study of 48 children sexually abused in daycare found that half of the victims had been abused by more than one perpetrator, and that multi-perpetrator sexual abuse was associated with ritualistic sexual abuse, the production of child pornography, and a higher number of female perpetrators . These findings concur with those of Kelly (1989) and Waterman (1993), whose respective studies compared samples of children ritually abused in daycare, children sexually abused in daycare, and a non-abused control group .

Research in Australia, Britain and America suggests that between a third and a quarter of psychotherapists, social workers and counsellors have encountered at least one client who discloses a history of ritualistic abuse. The most comprehensive survey on the subject was undertaken in the early 1990s by Bottoms, Shaver and Goodman. They found that, among 2,709 members of the American Psychological Association who responded to a poll, one third of psychologists had encountered at least one client with a history of “ritualistic or religion-related” abuse, and over 90% believed their clients . These findings are commensurate with surveys of healthcare workers and social workers in Britain and Australia on their experiences with clients disclosing a history of ritualistic abuse

There are available statistics on the depth of need for specific ritual abuse services, which may be relevant to the debate on the prevalence of satanic ritual abuse. In 1992, Childhelp USA logged 1,741 calls pertaining to ritual abuse. Monarch Resources of Los Angeles logged approximately 5,000, Real Active Survivors tallied nearly 3,600, Justus Unlimited of Colorado received almost 7,000, and Looking Up of Maine handled around 6,000. .

Historical context

The phrase “satanic ritual abuse” first arose in the mid-1980s to describe the disturbing disclosures of some children in child protection cases, and some adults in psychotherapy. The early 1980s saw an exponential increase in child protection investigations in America, Britain and other developed countries, driven by the implementation of mandatory reporting laws and increased public awareness of child abuse. In a small number of investigations, children began speaking about organised and ritualistic forms of sexual abuse by parents and carers . Adults in psychotherapy were also speaking about similar experiences in childhood These disclosures included descriptions of sexual abuse in the context of Satanic cults, rituals and the use of Satanic iconography, garnering the label “satanic ritual abuse” in the media and amongst treating professionals.

Early criminal trials in America and Britain involving allegations of organised and ritualistic abuse were characterised by acquittals, hung juries, and successful appeals. The failure of these high-profile cases generated worldwide media attention, and came to play a central feature in the growing controversies over child abuse, memory and the law. Public anxiety that an innocent adult could be subject to prosecution for sexual abuse on the basis of a child’s whim or confabulation was inflamed by the bizarre nature of children’s allegations in ritual abuse cases. Some community groups, such as the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, lobbied the press and policy-makers to contest accounts of organised and ritualistic abuse, whilst clinicians, police and healthcare workers struggled to accommodate cases of satanic ritual abuse within their professional practice .

By the early 1990s, the phrase “satanic ritual abuse” was featuring prominently in media coverage of allegations of ritualistic abuse, however, it was a phrase used less and less frequently by professionals in the field of trauma and abuse. Researchers and clinicians generally prefer terminology such as “ritual abuse” or “ritualistic abuse” , “organised abuse” , “sadistic abuse” , and “multi-dimensional child sex rings” which acknowledge the complex morphology of child sexual abuse cases involving multiple perpetrators and victims, and avoids ascribing a motivational framework to perpetrators. The notable exception to this is literature on the subject written by evangelical Christians, which has traditionally stressed the ‘Satanic’ aspects of some sexual abuse cases in order to advance a fundamentalist religious and political agenda.

Similarities between accounts of “satanic ritual abuse” and historical accounts of Satanism and witchcraft have been noted by both those who believe that ritualistic abuse is occurring in the modern world and those who believe otherwise. The earliest claims that organized groups systematically and repeatedly torture and kill others in the context of devil worship can be found in the European witch-panics. For instance, in 1334 there was a trial of 63 presumed witches in Toulouse, France, who were accused of worshipping Satan, eating infant flesh, engaging in sexual orgies with others and with Satan himself. Eight of them were burned and the rest imprisoned. Earlier witch panics are usually not well documented, especially when there was no official trial. Witch-hunting in Europe reached a peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, when many mass trials against presumed worshipers of Satan took place.

Contested accounts

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Reports of SRA arose during a period in which the prevalence and harms of child sexual abuse had become a matter of significant community concern across the West. In the 1980s and 1990s, community groups such as Victims of Child Abuse Laws and the False Memory Syndrome Foundation suggested that the increasing rates of child abuse reports were being driven, at least in part, by mass “panic” or “hysteria” around child abuse, as well as professional malpractice on behalf of psychotherapists, counselors and social workers. These groups highlighted the bizarre nature of SRA allegations as evidence that children were being encouraged, or coerced, to confabulate allegations of sexual abuse.

Other people skeptical of SRA pointed to the increasing influence of evangelical religious activists in American politics, and the rise in public concern over Satanism, as lending weight to the position that allegations of SRA were not based on actual events. In particular, sociologists and journalists noted the vigorous nature with which some evangelical activists and groups were using claims of SRA to further their religious and political goals . Some commentators drew a causal link between the involvement of evangelical churches in publicizing accounts of SRA, and the rise of allegations of SRA, suggesting that the entire phenomenon may be the invention of religious extremists and evidence of a “moral panic” over Satanism and child abuse. Skeptical literature on SRA has highlighted the sadistic and bizarre nature of allegations, which, at times, have involved accounts of events which are unlikely or impossible. Authors have also highlighted the extreme claims of people who believe that ritualistic abuse is evidence of a global Satanic conspiracy.

Early sexual abuse cases involving allegations of ritualistic or satanic activity attracted significant media attention and community concern. This controversy was compounded by a number of factors, including the absence of evidence-based forensic interviewing techniques with children, the lack of multi-agency working protocols to facilitate collaboration between police and welfare agencies investigating child abuse, and the failure of the justice system to recognise the special needs of child complainants testifying in court. The failure of these high-profile cases left a lasting impact on the debate on SRA. Details of these cases are available below.

Cases in North America

McMartin preschool

Members of the McMartin family, operated a preschool in California, and were charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of children in their care. After six years of criminal trials, no convictions were obtained, and all charges were dropped in 1990. It was the longest and most expensive criminal trial of its time. Accusations were made in 1983. Arrests and the pretrial investigation ran from 1984 to 1987, and the trial ran from 1987 to 1990.

The case came to public awareness following the instigation of a Grand Jury in 1984. Attorneys for the defendants launched and paid for an advertising campaign in local newspapers which compared the prosecutions to the Salem witch trials and claimed that the case was the product of "utter hysteria". The children's disclosures included instances of bizarre abuse, including accounts of ritual activity and animal sacrifice, although these specific disclosures did not constitute additional charges against the defendants.

At trial, the defense attorneys attempted to discredit the investigation by emphasising these bizarre allegations. The defense also called into question the conduct of police interviews with the complainant children. Videotapes adduced at trial showed that the interviews had a strongly investigative and, at times, leading quality. In America at the time, there was no protocol on forensic interviewing techniques with children. There were also no provisions in the courtroom to accommodate young children as vulnerable and intimidated witnesses. Forty-one former pupils were presented as witnesses for the prosecution, with physicians testifying that most showed physical evidence of sexual abuse. Children as young as six underwent vigorous cross-examination for over two weeks.

The first hearing lasted almost two years, resulting in a hung jury. One of the defendants, Raymond Buckey, was tried again, however, his trial also resulted in a hung jury. Media coverage was strongly sympathetic to the defendants and the case was considered by many to be based on false allegations. A subsequent archaeological excavation of the preschool site allegedly found evidence of tunnels and a chamber under the foundations of the preschool in accordance with the children’s disclosures, however, the findings of the excavation came too late to influence trial proceedings . The significance and accuracy of these findings have been contested in psychological journals but have yet to be refuted by an archaeologist.

Orlando, Florida

In 1992, James L. Wright and his wife, Margie Wright, were charged and convicted of sexually abusing children in the context of Satanic rituals. The complainant children reported being forced into sexual acts at gunpoint and their forced participation in Satanic rituals, and their disclosures included chalices filled with blood, a box containing a corpse, and witnessing Wright sacrifice a stray dog. Investigators found the dog's skeleton near the Wright's trailer.

The parents of the complainant children later moved residences and the prosecutor at trial expressed concern because the children had been threatened by the Satanic cult not to testify. The parents said cult members had come to their house to take the children to stop them from testifying against the Wrights. The children had to be moved to a secure location due to the threats.

Maggie Wright testified against her husband while she pleaded no contest to reduced charges.

Fran's Day Care in Texas

Dan and Frances Keller were charged with sexually abusing children at their daycare centre in Texas, and they were arrested after fleeing to Las Vegas. The Kellers had a joint trial after which a jury found them guilty of sexually abusing a three year old girl. A doctor had found lacerations to the labia and hymen of the child that were consistent with an allegation of sexual abuse.

News reports state that more than one child was thought to have been abused at "Fran's Day Care" in Austin, Texas, operated by the Kellers, but this particular case cites their conviction of only one 3 ½ year old child. A 6-yr-old child, who also claimed to be a victim, testified on the behalf of the 3 1/2 year old and called Fran's Day Care, "Fran's Hate Care." About eight children were in therapy due to the abuse.

The children described ritual acts: being terrorized in a graveyard, seeing animals killed, being buried alive with animals, painting pictures with bones dipped in blood, being shot and resurrected, being stuck with needles and drugged, and seeing bodies dug up and mutilated with a chainsaw. A child led an investigator to a graveyard where they found animal bones. Parents reported children who were terrified of baths, children who believe they must kill themselves on their birthday, children who were afraid of ponies, fearful they will be put in jail, and children who could conduct a séance, complete with otherworldly "chants."

Three other people were indicted for sexually abusing children at this daycare. They were Douglas Perry, a Travis County road maintenance worker, Janise White, a Travis County constable -- Perry's wife, and Raul Quintero, another Travis County constable and Whites partner. Douglas Perry was originally given immunity but denied any knowledge of events on the witness stand. Prosecutors then introduced a statement written by Perry on July 7, 1992 which was read to the jury. The statement described sexual activities with two children by the aforementioned individuals. He confessed to tearing a head off a doll and threatening the children that if they told, their heads would come off the same way.

Perry eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent acts with a child and he received 10 years probation. Indictments against White and Quintero were dismissed. Parents of two children filed a civil suit holding these three people accountable for not reporting the abuse, but the case was dismissed.

Arizona

Following allegations of sexual abuse by his children, Edward Cannaday was charged with sexually assaulting his daughters and step-daughter, then 5, 10 and 11, and molesting his 6 year old son. All of the children were placed in foster homes. The children also implicated their grandfather and three uncles in the abuse, and claimed that their extended family was participating in a satanic cult that sacrificed animals, babies and children, and engaged in group sex.

Newspaper reports stated that the police had investigated reports of dead bodies in the area during the late 1980’s, and bone fragments, bits of clothing and scraps of duct tape had been found.

Five other relatives were indicted on charges ranging from aggravated assault to child molestation but charges against the three younger brothers were dropped when they were declared incompetent to stand trial on the basis of mental disability.

After a three-week trial Edward Cannaday was convicted of sexual molestation of a child. The defense attorney didn’t dispute that the children were chronically abused. His co-defendant and sister, Sharlotte Ann Brown, was convicted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

West Memphis 3

In 1993, three men were charged for the murder of three children in West Memphis, Arkansas, with one man being sentenced to death and the remaining two to life in prison. One of the men confessed to the crime and implicated the two others in the murder. During the investigation, allegations of Satanic rituals were made by a playmate of one of the murdered children. Evidence tendered at trial suggested that murdered children had been sexually assaulted and genitally mutilated.

There is a significant groundswell of public support for the three convicted men. However, when asked by police how he thought the boys had been killed, Echols gave them statements not yet publicly known. He later claimed to have read this information in the newspaper, although, when confronted with the pertinent articles on the witness stand, he conceded that the information he was referring to was not in the public domain.

At trial, two witnesses testified they overheard Echols admit he killed the three boys and that he was going to kill two more. The state thought the killings had been performed in a satanic ritual and an expert witness on the occult gave that opinion also. Echols admitted to being involved in the occult, items in his home included journals that had references to "morbid images, spells, and dead children." His parents had concerns about his involvement in "devil worship." In statements tendered at court, Echols stated his belief that he obtained power from drinking the blood of others, especially from his sexual partners.

In regards to a second defendant, a witness testified that he had spoken of the murders. "He told me he dismembered the kids, or I don't know exactly how many kids. He just said he dismembered them."

Pennsylvania

In 1993, Rickie Jay Gaddis and his wife Debbie Louis Gaddis were charged with more then 150 offences relating to the sexual abuse of children in Satanic rituals. Also arrested in connection with the carges were a 39 year-old man and three juveniles who lived with him, a 41 year-old man, and a 29 year-old man.

The couple were convicted in 1994 for what the judge described as "“horrific sexual, physical and emotional” abuse, and Rickie Gaddis was sentenced to 235 to 470 years in prison. News reports quote the police, stating the children were subjected by their parents and neighbors to ritualistic torture that included bloodlettings with a sword, Satanic ceremonies, hot needles under their fingernails, sodomy, stretching and tattooing. The children told police of Satanic rituals in which their 34 year old father used ceremonial swords to draw blood from adults and children to pour on the grave of a daughter killed in a fire three years ago.

Missouri

In 1996, a mother and fater challenged the decision of a Missouri court to terminate their parental rights to three of their seven children.

Social services documented constant and severe domestic violence; the father continually abused the mother, including using a cattle prod to electrically shock her, shot her with a gun, cut her with a razor blade and violated her with a baseball bat. The mother then claimed she made up the story, although physical evidence was discovered, she had a stab wound in her side and she was bleeding internally. She also related past abuse by the father, including being raped, shot, stabbed, and of attempts to cut her throat and cut off her arm.

Both parents had been arrested for the rape of a teenager, but the witness wouldn't testify so the charges were dropped. Both parents had tried to commit suicide and were involved in drug usage, satanic worship, and they sacrificed animals in front of the children. The mother admitted to this activity and to giving the children drugs to forget the ceremonies. The children also stated that this occurred.

Florida

In 1992, a child in a family of twelve alleged that her father, Eddie Sexton, was sexually abusing his three oldest daughters. Six children were taken into custody by child protection services, although three children were later returned to the mother under an agreement that she would keep the children away from the father. Later that year, Mrs Sexton fled to Ohio with the three children, and reunited with Mr Sexton in Kentucky. They were arrested in Florida in 1994, with all children returned to the custody of protective services.

The couple were charged with the sexual, physical, and mental abuse against the three children. According to Ohio vs. Estella Sexton, February 13, 1995, 1995 Ohio App. Lexis 1413, one of the children stated that family members were involved in satanic rituals, invoking spirits, and "baby thingies and things like that." “We will hold hands ... it mostly takes place after my grandmother died. They will bring her spirit back. Sometimes they bring devils back. They come out of the table and you see them floating around in the room ... we all hold hands while it’s happening.” This testimony regarding Satanic ritual was found by the court to be relevant to the proceedings. The court documented other ritualistic activity by the offenders, including an instance in which one of the children was cut, and forced to sign a contract to the devil.

Eddie Sexton was later convicted of participation in the murder of his son-in-law, Joel Good, and sentenced to death. Good was murdered by Sexton’s 22 year old son, Willie, who strangled him to death under Sexton’s direction. The States proposed motive for the killing was that Sexton's son-in-law knew Sexton was the father of his own "grandchildren."

Willie Sexton testified against his father in exchange for his guilty plea to second-degree murder. News reports state that during the second trial, his son, Willie Sexton, said his father convinced him he had Satanic powers and sexually abused him. Sherri Sexton, daughter of Eddie Lee Sexton, discussed séances held in the home. She told news reporters that her dead cat was placed on a table and “my dad had all of us go around the table holding hands. He was talking weird. He was saying he was Satan… He kept asking us to give our souls to him – to follow him to Satan.”

Other incidents

Similar incidents have occurred elsewhere in the United States, including the town of Edenton, North Carolina, but also in Martensville, Saskatchewan, Canada. The remains of a small infant girl, first dubbed Baby X and later 'Kristina Angelica James,' were discovered near Rupert, Idaho in the early 1990s, and the body was considered evidence of SRA activity, though no unambiguous evidence linking the girl's death to SRA was ever found.

Cases in Europe

Several "mass child abuse" scares took place in Coesfeld, Worms and Nordhorn, Germany where violent rituals and underground tunnel networks were alleged; all the accused were later acquitted. Two widely publicized cases of similar mass hysteria occurred in the north of the Netherlands, one in Oude Pekela in which a clown was the alleged main perpetrator and another in Emmer-Erfscheidenveen in which the common theme of secret tunnels and basements featured prominently. No trace of evidence was ever found and all the accused were exonerated.

Three widely publicised cases in the United Kingdom were in Rochdale , Orkney, and Nottingham. In the Nottingham case, social services investigations into a Broxtowe Estate family with multigenerational child sexual abuse and neglect became sidetracked into a wild goose chase looking for Satanic cults, with wilder and wilder allegations being investigated. Nottingham council organised an inquiry into the events of this case, which cast so poor a light on the competence of the social services that the council unsuccessfully tried to block distribution of the final report. The authorities in the Orkney investigation were criticised for carrying out dawn raids to 'rescue' suspected victims from their families, without explanation, then taking them by helicopter or boat to the Scottish mainland, only to later have to return them after the accusations turned out to be groundless.

Adam in London

In 2004 the naked body of an apparently African male child was found in the River Thames, in London, and allegations have been made that the child was sacrificed in a ritual, either Satanic or animist in nature, and that many other Third World children had met like fates having been brought into the UK as child asylum-seekers, or displaced distant relatives of people who had recently immigrated. Subsequently reports have been made concerning children of African-immigrant families who have been abused because members believe them to be possessed by devils (strictly speaking, in these cases, the abuse is inspired by a version of Christianity, not Satanism, since the victims, not the perpetrators, are believed to be satanically influenced).

Rignano Flaminio, Italy

In April of 2007, six people were arrested for sexually abusing fifteen children in Rignano Flaminio, Italy. The suspects were accused of filming the children engaged in sexual acts with 'satanic' overtones.

Lewis, Scotland

In Lewis, Scotland eight people, including a 75 year-old grandmother, were accused of raping and sexually abusing children in black magic rituals. The court was told of orgies and the sacrifices of animals, whose blood was drunk.

Children in court

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In the early 1980s, as the first sexual abuse cases featuring ritualistic allegations were coming to court, there was little understanding of the specific needs of complainant children in sexual abuse trials. Police, social workers or counsellors did not have access to professional training or guidance in relation to forensic interviewing techniques with children. During trial, many defence lawyers emphasised the suggestive or leading nature of some forensic interviews with children, and suggested that children's disclosures of sadistic or ritualistic abuse may have been a product of suggestive interviewing techniques.

During this period, the justice system also failed to recognise the harmful impact of the court process on young children. Whilst screens or CCTV technology are a common feature of child sexual assault trials today, children in the early 1980s were typically forced into direct visual contact with the accused abuser whilst in court. Early efforts to address a young child's anxiety over confronting their accused abuser sometimes provided grounds for a successful appeal. For instance, the convictions of Cheryl and Violet Amirault for offences relating to ritual child sexual abuse were successfully appealed on the basis that two complainant children, aged 5 and 8, were permitted to angle their chairs away from the defendants after expressing considerable fear at facing them directly .

In the McMartin ritual abuse case, children as young as ten were subject to hostile cross-examination for over two weeks. The harms caused to child witnesses in the McMartin case sparked a significant program of legislative reform to recognise the vulnerable and intimidated nature of complainant children in the justice system. It also catalysed a broad agenda of research into the nature of children's testimony and it's reliabilty in court. This findings of this research is somewhat ambiguous, suggesting that neither children nor adults are immune to suggestive interviewing techniques, however, even extremely suggestive techniques do not inevitably lead to false reports . Other research has demonstrated that children can accurately remember and report past experiences over long periods of time, however, this capacity is dependent on developmental differences linked to age .

Hypnosis and false memories

Beyond the Satanic ritual abuse scares which were directly based on questioning children, a large number of adults came forward in the 1980s and 1990s and claimed to have recovered memories of severe, often Satanic ritual abuse in their childhood. Later investigators diagnosed many of these adults as mentally ill. While criminal charges were rarely pressed because of the long time that had passed since the alleged abuse, media coverage of these adult testimonies nevertheless contributed to the belief that Satanic abuse was, in fact, a widespread phenomenon.

Many of the women who reported such memories had previously seen therapists specializing in child sexual abuse, or read books like The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis, which encouraged them to recover their allegedly existing memories of severe abuse in their childhood. At the time, some child abuse therapists used a technique known as recovered memory therapy (RMT), which worked from the presumption that the patients were so severely abused that their memories of it were repressed in childhood and could only be recovered by a specialist. This approach has involved hypnosis and drugs to stimulate the recovery of memories of abuse.

Critics of recovered memory therapy, like Richard Ofshe and Ethan Watters (Making Monsters. False Memories, Psychotherapy, And Sexual Hysteria), view this practice as fraudulent and dangerous. They base this assertion on several claims:

• Traumatic experiences which obviously have happened, such as war time experiences, are not "repressed"—they are either forgotten or remembered clearly in spite of attempts to suppress them.
• The "memories" recovered in RMT are highly detailed. According to RMT literature, the human brain stores very vivid memories which can be recalled in detail, like a video tape. This belief contradicts virtually all research on the way memories work.
• The patient is given very extensive lists of "symptoms" including sleeplessness, headaches, the feeling of being different from others etc. If several of these symptoms are found, the therapist suggests to the patient that they were probably sexually abused. If the patient denies this, they are "in denial" and require more extensive therapy.
• During the questioning, patients are openly encouraged to ignore their own feelings and memories and to assume that the abuse has happened. They then explore together with this therapist, over a prolonged period of many months or even years, how the abuse happened. The possibility that the abuse has not happened at all is usually not considered.

According to these critics, RMT techniques used for "reincarnation therapy" or "alien abduction therapy" are comparable to the techniques used in Satanic ritual abuse therapy. To verify the false memory hypothesis, researchers like Elizabeth Loftus have successfully produced false memories of various childhood incidents in test subjects. This is viewed as further evidence that comprehensive false memories can be produced in therapy.

RMT critics also point to the bizarre nature of Satanic ritual abuse stories and claim that, in many cases, such stories are probably untrue. They believe that all or most SRA memories are produced by the therapists through extensive suggestive questioning. Some of them also believe that multiple personality disorder is primarily or exclusively a product of that therapy or self-suggestion. RMT practitioners generally deny such claims, or hold that they are only true in a minority of cases, and believe that their work is sound when practiced properly. However, critics respond that the failure of mental health professionals to distinguish false memories from real ones abnegates this entire line of therapy.

Popular culture

The SRA panic also targeted role-playing games, especially Dungeons & Dragons, as a cause of ritual abuse. Science fiction writer Michael Stackpole has written an extensive report about this movement.

Patricia Pulling, who claimed that her son killed himself because he played Dungeons & Dragons, had stated that these games are secret instructions for suicide and Satanic abuse, or a "back door to Satanism." She later obtained a private investigator's license and launched a crusade against roleplaying (although she often appeared to erroneously believe the term was interchangeable with 'Dungeons & Dragons', the dominant game on the market).

One of the best known and most parodied of Jack Chick's tracts, Dark Dungeons, echoes this viewpoint. First published in 1984, the tract remains in print as of 2006, although it has been revised (the original version also claimed that the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis were "occult books", because they could be found in occult book stores.)

The television series The X-Files often referenced the SRA panic early in its run, when Agent Dana Scully frequently tried to discredit allegations of SRA in certain episodes.

Literature

The earliest modern account of Satanic ritual abuse can be found in Freud's letters regarding his therapeutic work with a patient named Emma Eckstein. Eckstein described to Freud experiences similar to the ritual abuse survivors of the last few decades, which included sexual abuse and ritual bloodletting. Freud was so disturbed by these disclosures that he theorised "we may have before us a residue of a primaeval sexual cult".

A more recent account of ritual Satanic torture was the book Michelle Remembers, written by Michelle Smith and her psychiatrist (and later husband) Lawrence Pazder and published in 1980. It was accompanied by features in People magazine and the National Enquirer, as well as numerous appearances on radio and television. Smith claims to have memories of seeing ritual human sacrifice, various forms of torture, and contact with supernatural beings. She has not produced corroborating evidence of these allegations, and both of Michelle's sisters and her father have denied everything in her book.

This book was followed in 1987 by Nightmare: uncovering the strange 56 personalities of Nancy Lynn Gooch authored in collaboration by Gooch, Emily Peterson and Lucy Freeman; and in 1989 by Suffer the Child by psychologist Judith Spencer, who described a patient with similar memories. Both of these books were best-sellers.

Lauren Stratford's 1988 Satan's Underground, which detailed her supposed childhood Satanic abuse, was the first book (aside from the 1965 novel Rosemary's Baby) to describe in detail allegations that cultists force young women to serve as "breeders" of babies raised for sacrificial purposes.

Stratford's account is one of the more thoroughly investigated claims of such abuse. Lauren claimed to have given birth to three children in her teens and early twenties. Yet, none of her friends, relatives, or teachers recalled these births or ever seeing her pregnant. However, they did recall her engaging in self-mutilation, while Lauren claimed that her scars were the product of her torture at the hands of Satanists. The year of her father's death was also inconsistently reported: Stratford claimed it was 1983 while the official record and all other testimony pointed to 1965 as the correct date. The team of journalists who discovered these inconsistencies published them in Cornerstone magazine as Satan's Sideshow in 1990. Satan's Underground was subsequently withdrawn from print by its publishers.

In her book Ghost Girl (1991), child psychologist Torey Hayden writes about a girl named "Jadie" who attended her class for mentally ill children. Jadie repeatedly spoke about participating in events which may have been either satanic ritual abuse, or a series of films about same in which she had taken part. The book's focus is not ritual abuse, but rather the difficulty professionals have in interpreting bizarre or unusual behavior. Authorities never discovered the truth about Jadie's claims, but she was eventually taken away from her parents and placed in a foster home. The book was a source in a case of false accusations of incest and ritual murder in Sweden in 1999.

A 1995 German book Vier Jahre Hölle und Zurück (Four Years of Hell and Back), by an author using the pseudonym "Lukas", describes purported first-hand experiences of a teenager who inadvertently became a member of a Satanist sect and later escaped. He wrote that he was subjected to various forms of torture and was forced to commit crimes.

In 2006 David Frankfurter, professor of religious studies and history at the University of New Hampshire published Evil Incarnate: Rumors of Demonic Conspiracy and Ritual Abuse in History. He concludes that "No forensic evidence" on SRA "has ever been found".

I close this book by returning to a point in the introduction: that historically verifiable atrocities take place not in the ceremonies of some evil realm or as expressions of some ontological evil force, but rather in the course of purging evil."

Many other personal accounts of Satanic ritual abuse exist, some of which allege the existence of an SRA conspiracy. With the rise of the Internet, stories of Satanic abuse, often very graphic and disturbing, can be found online.

Parallels to reports of alien abduction

California-based therapist Gwen Dean noted 44 parallels between alleged alien abductions and Satanic ritual abuse. Both emerged as widespread phenomena in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and both often use hypnosis to recover lost or suppressed memories.

Furthermore, the scenarios and narratives offered by abductees and SRA victims feature many similar elements:

• Both are typically said to begin when the experiencer is in his/her youth.
• Both are said to involve entire families and to occur generationally.
• The alien examination table that is reported as similar to the Satanic altar in those accounts.
• Both phenomena feature a strong focus on genitals, rape, sexuality and breeding.
• Witnesses often report that the events happen when they are in altered states of consciousness.
• Both phenomena feature episodes of "missing time" when the events are said to occur, but of which the victim has no conscious memory.

See also

• Blood libel
• Bob Larson
• Chick Publications
• Day care sexual abuse hysteria
• False allegation of child sexual abuse
• False memories
• Mike Warnke
• Phantom social workers
• Recovered memory therapy
• Witch-hunt
• File 18

References

1. Kenneth V. Lanning, "Investigator's Guide to Allegations of Rital Child Abuse" (1992 FBI guide for investigators of SRA); URL retrieved 2007-07-23
2. - B.A. Robinson, "Ritual Abuse: An introduction to all points of view" 1995-2005; URL retrieved 2007-07-23
3. Brindle, D. (1990) "Ritual abuse occurs 'in 1 in 40 child sex rings'" The Guardian. 19 October, London
4. Gallagher, B., B. Hughes and H. Parker (1996). "The nature and extent of known cases of organised child sexual abuse in England and Wales." in P. Bibby (Ed.) Organised Abuse: The Current Debate. Aldershot, Arena/Ashgate
5. Finkelhor, D. and L. M. Williams (1988). Nursery Crimes: Sexual Abuse in Day Care. Newbury Park, Sage Publications.
6. Faller, K. C. (1988). "The Spectrum of Sexual Abuse in Daycare: An Exploratory Study." Journal of Family Violence 3(4): 283 - 98.
7. Kelley, S. (1989). "Stress Responses of Children to Sexual Abuse and Ritualistic Abuse in Day Care Settings." Journal of Interpersonal Violence 4(4): 502-13, and Waterman, J., R. J. Kelly, M. K. Olivieri and J. McCord (1993). Beyond the playground walls: Sexual abuse in preschools. New York, Guilford.
8. Bottoms, B. L., P. R. Shaver and G. S. Goodman (1996). "An analysis of ritualistic and religion-related child abuse allegations." Law and Human Behavior 20(1): 1 - 34.
9. see Andrews, B., J. Morton, D. A. Bekerian, C. R. Brewin, G. M. Davis and P. Mollon (1995). "The recovery of memories in clinical practice: Experiences and beliefs of British Psychological Society Practitioners." The Psychologist: Bulletin of the British Psychological Society 8(5): 209-14, Creighton, S. J. (1993). "Organized Abuse: NSPCC Experience." Child Abuse Review 2: 232 – 42, Schmuttermaier, J. and A. Veno (1999). "Counselors' beliefs about ritual abuse: An Australian Study." Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 8(3): 45 - 63.
10. Gould, C. (1995). "Denying Ritual Abuse of Children." Journal of Psychohistory 22(3): 328 – 39 at http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/denyra.htm
11. see Kagy, L. (1986). "Ritualised Abuse of Children." ReCap: From the Child Assault Prevention Project (Winter), Hechler, D. (1988). The Battle and the Backlash: The Child Sexual Abuse War. Lexington, Massachusetts; Toronto, Lexington Books, Cozolino, L. J. (1989). "The Ritual Abuse of Children: Implications for Clinical Research." The Journal of Sex Research 26(1): 131 - 8.
12. Van Benschoten, S. C. (1990). "Multiple Personality Disorder and Satanic Ritual Abuse: The Issue of Credibility." Dissociation 3(1): 22 – 30, Ireland, S. J. and M. J. Ireland (1994). "A Case History of Family and Cult Abuse." The Journal of Psychohistory 21(4): 417-26, Corwin, D. L. (2002). "An Interview with Roland Summit." in J. R. Conte (Ed.) Critical Issues in Child Sexual Abuse: Historical, Legal and Psychological Perspectives. Thousand Oaks; London; New Delhi, Sage Publications: 1 - 26.
13. Brown, D., A. W. Scheflin and D. C. Hammond (1998). "The Contours of the False Memory Debate." in D. Brown, A. W. Scheflin and D. C. Hammond (Ed.) Memory, Trauma Treatment and the Law. New York; London, W. W. Norton and Company: 21-65., Kitzinger, J. (2004). Framing Abuse: Media Influence and Pubic Understanding of Sexual Violence Against Children. London; Ann Arbor, MI, Pluto Press.
14. Bibby, P. (1996). "Definitions and recent history." in P. Bibby (Ed.) Organised Abuse: The Current Debate. Aldershot, UK; Brookfield, USA, Arena: 1-8.
15. Hudson, P. (1991). "Ritual Abuse: Discovery, Diagnosis and Treatment." in. Saratoga, CA, R&E Publishers.
16. Snow, B. and T. Sorenson (1990). "Ritualistic child abuse in a neighborhood setting." Journal of Interpersonal Violence 5(4): 474 – 87.
17. Bibby, P. (1996). "Definitions and recent history." in P. Bibby (Ed.) Organised Abuse: The Current Debate. Aldershot, UK; Brookfield, USA, Arena: 1-8.
18. Goodwin, J. M. (1994). "Sadistic abuse: definition, recognition and treatment." in V. Sinason (Ed.) Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse. London and New York, Routledge: 33 – 44
19. Lanning, K. V. (1992). "A Law-Enforcement Perspective on Allegations of Ritual Abuse." in D. Sakheim and S. Divine (Ed.) Out of Darkness: Exploring Satanism and Ritual Abuse New York, Lexington Books: 109 - 46.
20. Norman Cohn, Europe's Inner Demons (revised edition 2000) - an account of the centuries-old legend of secret, inhuman, baby-sacrificing cults.
21. Frankfurter, David (2006). Evil incarnate: rumors of demonic conspiracy and ritual abuse in history. Princeton University Press. pp. pages 31-52. ISBN 0691113505. Basque villagers of the sixteenth century had always known that some people could be malevolent, dangerous; and they had long speculated on how such people perverted human custom and brought catastrophe down on their neighbors, how they got their powers to strike ill, what made them different. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
22. e.g. see Victor, J. "Satanic Panic, Creation of a Contemporary Legend", Open Court Publishing Company, 1993
23. "Los Angeles Presses Inquiry Into Sexual Abuse of Children". Associated Press. April 1, 1984. Retrieved 2007-07-29. To the children at the Virginia McMartin Preschool, it was 'The Hollywood Game' or 'Naked Movie Star'. Adults use more sophisticated terms to describe the sexual games the children were reported to have played with trusted teachers, such as pedophilia, felony child abuse, child pornography. ... Seven defendants, including 76-year-old Virginia McMartin, who founded the school in 1956; her daughter, granddaughter and grandson, are scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. They face a total of 115 counts of having sexual relations with children as young as 2 years old at the preschool center in suburban Manhattan Beach. Prosecutors say 125 children have told therapists that snapshots and movies were made while they were raped, sodomized, orally copulated or fondled. Mrs. McMartin, in a wheelchair when she surrendered on the March 22 indictments, termed the charges against her a bunch of lies. ... No pornographic photographs or films have been recovered in the McMartin case, but Deputy District Attorney Eleanor Barrett says she believes some were made because so many children talk about being photographed on so many occasions. ... {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
24. Cite error: The named reference Peggy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
25. Timnik, L (1985-09-02). "Child Abuse Probe: Only Questions". Los Angeles Times. p. A1.
26. Lindsay, Robert (January 27, 1985). "Boy's responses at sex abuse trial underscore legal conflict". New York Times. He is a small, sandy-haired child named Willie. Matter-of-factly, he answers yes, he was sexually molested by his teachers at the Virginia McMartin Pre-school. A moment later he seems to contradict himself. At other times, he repeatedly says, Don't remember, when asked about experiences he described to psychologists months ago. ... {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
27. Lindsay, R (1985-02-13). "Reporter's Notebook: 6 Months of California Case". The New York Times. p. A16.
28. Flynn, G (1985-03-01). "Parents plead to spare molested kids new pain". The San Diego Union-Tribune. pp. 1–4.
29. Summit, R. C. (1994). "The Dark Tunnels of McMartin." Journal of Psychohistory 21(4): 397 - 416
30. See “Convict's Wife Sentenced for Trying to Molest Kids," Orlando Sentinel Tribune, May 9, 1992; "A Family Fears That Satanic Cult will try to Silence their Sons," Orlando Sentinel Tribune, August 10, 1991; "Child Abuse Suspect Trades Testimony for Lesser Charges," Orlando Sentinel Tribune, January 31, 1992
31. See "Speaking the Unspeakable/Nightmares of Fran's Day Care Stalk Families," Austin American-Statesman, Dec. 13, 1992; "6-yr-old Testifies he Witnessed Abuse of girl," Nov. 24, 1992; "Kellers Found Guilty of Sexual Assault," Austin American Statesman, Nov. 26, 1992; "Therapist Describes Ritualistic Abuse Claims," Austin American Statesman, Nov. 20, 1992.
32. See “Man Could Get 162 Years in Molestations,” The Arizona Republic, September 10, 1994; Ex-Pastor Sentenced On child-Sex Charges, The Arizona Republic, November 19, 1994
33. December 23, 1996, DAMIEN WAYNE ECHOLS AND CHARLES JASON BALDWIN v. STATE OF ARKANSAS, SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS, 936 S.W.2d 509; 902 S.W. 2d 781 (1995)
34. “Pa. couple is charged with torturing children: Police say neighbors also took part in abuse,” The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, November 26, 1991; “Pennsylvania Couple Charged with Brutalizing their children,” The Washington Post, November 26, 1991; and “Parents charged with Torturing their Children,” Associated Press, Nov. 25, 1991; “Gaddis Released Denied: Judge unmoved by health woes,” Tribune-Democrat, December 9, 2006; “Child Abuser Seeks Prison Release,” Tribune-Democrat, September 30, 2006
35. July 16, 1996, IN INTEREST OF P. J. M.,/E. C. M.,/J. W. M., MINORS, MISSOURI COURT OF APPEALS, 926 S.W.2d 223, Termination of Parental Rights Affirmed.
36. March 9, 1998, STATE OF OHIO vs ESTELLA SEXTON, COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, STARK COUNTY, 1998 Ohio App. LEXIS 1302; 1995 Ohio App. LEXIS 1413, Convictions for Complicity to Rape, Felonious Sexual Penetration, Gross Sexual Imposition, Complicity to Gross Sexual Imposition, and Child Endangerment Affirmed
37. see “Children Tell of Life of Incest, Violence,” Beacon Journal , February 6, 1994; "Court Revisits Murder Case, Son's Fears," St. Petersburg Times, September 2, 1998, October 12, 2000, EDDIE LEE SEXTON vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA, 775 So. 2d. 923, 2000 Fla. LEXIS 1993; 697 So. 2d. 833 (1997) Conviction and Death Sentence Affirmed
38. Siegel, Barry (1992). "Idaho Gothic". Los Angeles Times Magazine. Retrieved 2007-08-16. Other American towns have been haunted by rumors of rampant satanism and human sacrifice. But Rupert, Idaho, is different. Rupert, Idaho, has the body of baby X.
39. "'Satanic abuse' case families sue council for negligence". The Guardian. Thursday, January 12, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-21. Around 20 children were removed from their homes by Rochdale social services in 1990 after a seven-year-old boy, Daniel Wilson, now 22, told his teachers he had been dreaming of ghosts. Social services were called and, alert to satanic "indicators" after a spate of cases in the US, thought they had uncovered a group of ritual devil worshippers. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
40. "The Jet Report". Retrieved 2007-08-16.
41. Owen, Richard (April 26, 2007). "Grandmothers arrested over satanic sex abuse at school". TimesOnline. Retrieved 2007-08-16. Three women teachers were among six people arrested yesterday accused of sedating and sexually abusing children as young as 3 at a school near Rome. The teachers — two of whom are grandmothers who had taught at the school and at Sunday school for decades — are said to have part in the repeated abuse of 15 children aged 3 and 5 for a year, filming them in sexual acts with satanic overtones at the teachers' homes and in a wood. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
42. "Satanic abuse key witness says: I lied". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-08-21. A key witness in one of Scotland's most notorious child abuse cases has admitted lying to the police, The Observer can reveal. Angela Stretton, whose evidence was vital in bringing a case of satanic sex abuse against eight people on the island of Lewis, has written to police confessing that some of the allegations she made were false. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
43. Weber, D. and Donlan, A. "Pair in day care molest case get 2nd trial", Boston Herald, 30 August 1995, p 3
44. Flynn, G. "Parents plead to spare molested kids new pain", The San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 March 1985, p 1-4
45. Ceci, S. J., S. Kulkofsky, J. Z. Klemfuss, C. D. Sweeney and M. Bruck (2007). "Unwarranted assumptions about children's testimonial accuracy." Annural Review of Clinical Psychology 3: 311-28
46. Gordon, B. N., L. Baker-Ward and P. A. Ornstein (2000). "Children's testimony: A review of research on memory for past experiences." Clinical Child and Family Psychological Review 4(2): 157-81
47. Richard Ofshe and Ethan Watters (1996) Making Monsters: False Memories, Psychotherapy, And Sexual Hysteria, University of California Press
48. – The Pulling Report complied by Michael Stackpole
49. Carroll, Robert Todd (April 6 2006). "Satanic Ritual Abuse". The Skeptic's Dictionary. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
50. Frankfurter, pp. 56f & 616f
51. Frankfurter, p. 53
52. Frankfurter, p. 213
53. Frankfurter, p. 224
54. C.D.B. Bryan (1995) Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Alien Abduction, UFOs and the Conference at M.I.T., pp. 138-139 (Alfred A. Knopf, ISBN 0-679-42975-1).

External links

• Child abuse and neglect at New York Times
• Kenneth V. Lanning: Investigator's Guide to Allegations of Ritual Child Abuse (1992 FBI report)
• Geraldo Rivera's Influence on the Satanic Ritual Abuse and Recovered Memory Hoaxes
• Entry in Skeptic's Dictionary
• Satanic Media Watch and News Exchange, featuring articles debunking the myth of Satanic Ritual Abuse.
• Conviction List: Ritual Child Abuse
• Satanism and Ritual Abuse Archive The cases describe legal proceedings held in Juvenile, Family, Civil and Criminal Courts around the world where there have been allegations of Satanism or the use of Ritual to abuse others.

• Conspiracy theories
• Mind control
• Anti-cult terms and concepts
• Religious persecution
• Satanism
• Crimes involving Satanism or the occult
• Hoaxes
• Mass hysteria