1601
"Pseudomemories have been acquired through dreams (particularly if
one is encouraged to keep a journal or dream diary and to regard
dream content as 'clues' about the past or as snippets of history),
substance-induced altered states of consciousness (alcohol or other
drugs), group influence (particularly hearing vivid accounts of
events occurring to others with whom one identifies emotionally such
as occurs in incest survivor groups), reading vivid accounts of
events occurring to others with whom one identifies emotionally,
watching such accounts in films or on television, and hypnosis. The
most efficient means of inducing pseudomemories is hypnosis.
"It is characteristic of pseudomemories that the recollections of
complex events (as opposed to a simple unit of information, such as
a tag number) are incomplete and without chronological sequence.
Often the person reports some uncertainty because the pseudomemories
are experienced in a manner they describe as 'hazy', 'fuzzy', or
'vague'. They are often perplexed that they recall some details
vividly but others dimly.
"Pseudomemories are not delusions. When first telling others of
pseudomemories, these individuals do not have the unshakable but
irrational conviction that deluded subjects have, but with social
support they often come to defend vigorously the truthfulness of the
pseudomemories.
"Pseudomemories are not fantasies, but may incorporate elements from
fantasies experienced in the past. Even where the events described
are implausible, listeners may believe them because they are
reported with such intense affect (i.e. with so much emotion
attached to the story) that the listener concludes that the events
must have happened because no one could 'fake' the emotional aspects
of the retelling. It also occurs, however, that persons report
pseudomemories in such a matter-of-fact and emotionless manner that
mental health professionals conclude that the person has
'dissociated' intellectual knowledge of the events from emotional
appreciation of their impact."
-- b. TRAUMATIC MEMORY.
The second possible answer is *traumatic memory*. Fear and severe
trauma can cause victims to distort reality and confuse events. This
is a well-documented fact in cases involving individuals taken
hostage or in life-and-death situations. The distortions may be part
of an elaborate defense mechanism of the mind called "splitting" -
The victims create a clear-cut good-and-evil manifestation of their
complex victimization that is then psychologically more manageable.
Through the defense mechanism of dissociation, the victim may escape
the horrors of reality by inaccurately processing that reality. In a
dissociative state a young child who ordinarily would know the
difference might misinterpret a film or video as reality.
1602
Another defense mechanism may tell the victim that it could have
been worse, and so his or her victimization was not so bad. They are
not alone in their victimization - other children were also abused.
Their father who abused them is no different from other prominent
people in the community they claim also abused them. Satanism may
help to explain why their outwardly good and religious parents did
such terrible things to them in the privacy of their home. Their
religious training may convince them that such unspeakable acts by
supposedly "good" people must be the work of the devil. The
described human sacrifice may be symbolic of the "death" of their
childhood.
It may be that we should anticipate that individuals severely abused
as very young children by *multiple* offenders with *fear* as the
primary controlling tactic will distort and embellish their
victimization. Perhaps a horror-filled yet inaccurate account of
victimization is not only not a counterindication of abuse, but is
in fact a corroborative indicator of extreme physical,
psychological, and/or sexual abuse. I do not believe it is a
coincidence nor the result of deliberate planning by satanists that
in almost all the cases of ritual abuse that have come to my
attention, the abuse is alleged to have begun prior to the age of
seven and perpetrated by multiple offenders. It may well be that
such abuse, at young age by multiple offenders, is the most
difficult to accurately recall with the specific and precise detail
needed by the criminal justice system, and the most likely to be
distorted and exaggerated when it is recalled. In her book _Too
Scared to Cry_ (1990), child psychiatrist Lenore Terr, a leading
expert on psychic trauma in childhood, states "that a series of
early childhood shocks might not be fully and accurately
'reconstructed' from the dreams and behaviors of the adult" (p. 5).
-- c. NORMAL CHILDHOOD FEARS AND FANTASY.
The third possible answer may be *normal childhood fears and
fantasy*. Most young children are afraid of ghosts and monsters.
Even as adults, many people feel uncomfortable, for example, about
dangling their arms over the side of their bed. They still remember
the "monster" under the bed from childhood. While young children may
rarely invent stories about sexual activity, they might describe
their victimization in terms of evil as they understand it. In
church or at home, children may be told of satanic activity as the
source of evil. The children may be "dumping" all their fears and
worries unto an attentive and encouraging listener.
Children do fantasize. Perhaps whatever causes a child to allege
something impossible (such as being cut up and put back together) is
similar to what causes a child to allege something possible but
improbable (such as witnessing another child being chopped up and
eaten).
1603
-- d. MISPERCEPTION, CONFUSION, AND TRICKERY.
Misperception, confusion, and trickery may be a fourth answer.
Expecting young children to give accurate accounts of sexual
activity for which they have little frame of reference is
unreasonable. The Broadway play _Madame Butterfly_ is the true story
of a man who had a 15-year affair, including the "birth" of a baby,
with a "woman" who turns out to have been a man all along. If a
grown man does not know when he has had vaginal intercourse with a
woman, how can we expect young children not to be confused?
Furthermore some clever offenders may deliberately introduce
elements of satanism and the occult into the sexual exploitation
simply to confuse or intimidate the victims. Simple magic and other
techniques may be used to trick the children. Drugs may also be
deliberately used to confuse the victims and distort their
perceptions. Such acts would then be M.O., not ritual.
As previously stated, the perceptions of young victims may also be
influenced by any trauma being experienced. This is the most popular
alternative explanation, and even the more zealous believers of
ritual abuse allegations use it, but only to explain obviously
impossible events.
-- e. OVERZEALOUS INTERVENORS.
*Overzealous intervenors*, causing intervenor contagion, may be a
fifth answer. These intervenors can include parents, family members,
foster parents, doctors, therapists, social workers, law enforcement
officers, prosecutors, and any combination thereof. Victims have
been subtly as well as overtly rewarded and bribed by usually well-
meaning intervenors for furnishing further details. In addition,
some of what appears not to have happened may have originated as a
result of intervenors making assumptions about or misinterpreting
what the victims are saying. The intervenors then repeat, and
possibly embellish, these assumptions and misinterpretations, and
eventually the victims are "forced" to agree with or come to accept
this "official" version of what happened.
The judgment of intervenors may be affected by their zeal to uncover
child sexual abuse, satanic activity, or conspiracies. However
"well-intentioned", these overzealous intervenors must accept
varying degrees of responsibility for the unsuccessful prosecution
of those cases where criminal abuse did occur. This is the most
controversial and least popular of the alternative explanations.
1604
-- f. URBAN LEGENDS.
Allegations of and knowledge about ritualistic or satanic abuse may
also be spread through *urban legends*. In _The Vanishing
Hitchhiker_ (1981), the first of his four books on the topic, Dr.
Jan Harold Brunvand defines urban legends as "realistic stories
concerning recent events (or alleged events) with an ironic or
supernatural twist" (p. xi). Dr. Brunvand's books convincingly
explain that just because individuals throughout the country who
never met each other tell the same story does not mean that it is
true. Absurd urban legends about the corporate logos of Proctor and
Gamble and Liz Claiborne being satanic symbols persist in spite of
all efforts to refute them with reality. Some urban legends about
child kidnappings and other threats to citizens have even been
disseminated unknowingly by law enforcement agencies. Such legends
have always existed, but today the mass media aggressively
participate in their rapid and more efficient dissemination. Many
Americans mistakenly believe that tabloid television shows check out
and verify the details of their stories before pulling them on the
air. Mass hysteria may partially account for large numbers of
victims describing the same symptoms or experiences.
Training conferences for all the disciplines involved in child
sexual abuse may also play a role in the spread of this contagion.
At one child abuse conference I attended, an exhibitor was selling
more than 50 different books dealing with satanism and the occult.
By the end of the conference, he had sold nearly all of them. At
another national child sexual abuse conference, I witnessed more
than 100 attendees copying down the widely disseminated 29 "Symptoms
Characterizing Satanic Ritual Abuse" in preschool-aged children. Is
a four-year-old child's "preoccupation with urine and feces" an
indication of satanic ritual abuse or part of normal development?
-- g. COMBINATION.
Most multidimensional child sex ring cases probably involve a
*combination* of the answers previously set forth, as well as other
possible explanations unknown to me at this time. Obviously, cases
with adult survivors are more likely to involve some of these
answers than those with young children. Each case of sexual
victimization must be individually evaluated on its own merits
without any preconceived explanations. All the possibilities must be
explored if for no other reason than the fact that the defense
attorneys for any accused subjects will almost certainly do so.
Most people would agree that just because a victim tells you one
detail that turns out to be true, this does not mean that every
detail is true. But many people seem to believe that if you can
disprove one part of a victim's story, then the entire story is
false. As previously stated, one of my main concerns in these cases
is that people are getting away with sexually abusing children or
committing other crimes because we cannot prove that they are
members of organized cults that murder and eat people.
1605
I have discovered that the subject of multidimensional child sex
rings is a very emotional and polarizing issue. Everyone seems to
demand that one choose a side. On one side of the issue are those
who say that nothing really happened and it is all a big witch hunt
led by overzealous fanatics and incompetent "experts". The other
side says, in essence, that everything happened; victims never lie
about child sexual abuse, and so it must be true.
There is a middle ground. It is the job of the professional
investigator to listen to all the victims and conduct appropriate
investigation in an effort to find out what happened, considering
all possibilities. Not all childhood trauma is abuse. Not all child
abuse is a crime. The great frustration of these cases is the fact
that you are often convinced that something traumatic happened to
the victim, but do not know with any degree of certainty exactly
what happened, when it happened, or who did it.
7. DO VICTIMS LIE ABOUT SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION?
The crucial central issue in the evaluation of a response to cases
of multidimensional child sex rings is the statement "Children never
lie about sexual abuse or exploitation. If they have details, it
must have happened." This statement, oversimplified by many, is the
basic premise upon which some believe the child sexual abuse and
exploitation movement is based. It is almost never questioned or
debated at training conferences. In fact, during the 1970s, there
was a successful crusade to eliminate laws requiring corroboration
of child victim statements in child sexual abuse cases. The best way
to convict child molesters is to have the child victims testify in
court. If we believe them, the jury will believe them. Any challenge
to this basic premise was viewed as a threat to the movement and a
denial that the problem existed.
I believe that children *rarely* lie about sexual abuse or
exploitation, if a lie is defined as a statement deliberately and
maliciously intended to deceive. The problem is the
oversimplification of the statement. Just because a child is not
lying does not necessarily mean the child is telling the truth. I
believe that in the majority of these cases, the victims are not
lying. They are telling you what they have come to believe has
happened to them. Furthermore the assumption that children rarely
lie about sexual abuse does not necessarily apply to everything a
child says during a sexual abuse investigation. Stories of
mutilation, murder, and cannibalism are not really about sexual
abuse.
Children rarely lie about sexual abuse or exploitation. but they do
fantasize, furnish false information, furnish misleading
information, misperceive events, try to please adults, respond to
leading questions, and respond to rewards. Children are not adults
in little bodies and do go through developmental stages that must be
evaluated and understood. In many ways, however, children are no
better and no worse than other victims or witnesses of a crime. They
should not be automatically believed, nor should they be
automatically disbelieved.
1606
The second part of the statement - if children can supply details,
the crime must have happened - must also be carefully evaluated. The
details in question in most of the cases of multidimensional child
sex rings have little to do with sexual activity. Law enforcement
and social workers must do more than attempt to determine how a
child could have known about the sex acts. These cases involve
determining how a victim could have known about a wide variety of
bizarre and ritualistic activity. Young children may know little
about specific sex acts, but they may know a lot about monsters,
torture, kidnapping, and murder.
Victims may supply details of sexual and other acts using
information from sources other than their own direct victimization.
Such sources must be evaluated carefully by the investigator of
multidimensional child sex rings.
-- a. PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE.
The victim may have personal knowledge of the sexual or ritual acts,
but not as a result of the alleged victimization. The knowledge
could have come from viewing pornography, sex education, or occult
material; witnessing sexual or ritual activity in the home; or
witnessing the sexual abuse of others. It could also have come from
having been sexually or physically abused, but by other than the
alleged offenders and in ways other than the alleged offense.
-- b. OTHER CHILDREN OR VICTIMS.
Young children today are socially interacting more often and at a
younger age than ever before. Many parents are unable to provide
possibly simple explanations for their children's stories because
they were not with the children when the events occurred. They do
not even know what videotapes their children may have seen, what
games they may have played, or what stories they may have been told
or overheard. Children are being placed in day care centers for
eight, ten, or twelve hours a day starting as young as six weeks of
age. The children share experiences by playing house, school, or
doctor. Bodily functions such as urination and defecation are a
focus of attention for these young children. To a certain extent,
each child shares the experiences of all the other children.
1607
The odds are fairly high that in any typical day care center there
might be some children who are victims of incest; victims of
physical abuse; victims of psychological abuse; children of cult
members (even satanists); children of sexually open parents;
children of sexually indiscriminate parents; children of parents
obsessed with victimization; children of parents obsessed with the
evils of satanism; children without conscience; children with a
teenage brother or pregnant mother; children with heavy metal music
and literature in the home; children with bizarre toys, games,
comics, and magazines; children with a VCR and slasher films in
their home; children with access to dial-a-porn, party lines, or
pornography; or children victimized by a day care center staff
member. The possible effects of the interaction of such children
prior to the disclosure of the alleged abuse must be evaluated,
Adult survivors may obtain details from group therapy sessions,
support networks, church groups, or self-help groups. The
willingness and ability of siblings to corroborate adult survivor
accounts of ritual abuse varies. Some will support and partially
corroborate the victim's allegations. Others will vehemently deny
them and support their accused parents or relatives.
-- c. MEDIA.
The amount of sexually explicit, occult, anti-occult, or violence-
oriented material available to adults and even children in the
modern world is overwhelming. This includes movies, videotapes,
television, music, toys, and books. There are also documentaries on
satanism, witchcraft, and the occult that are available on
videotape. Most of the televangelists have videotapes on the topics
that they are selling on their programs.
The National Coalition on Television Violence News (1988) estimates
that 12% of the movies produced in the United States can be
classified as satanic horror films. Cable television and the home
VCR make all this material readily available even to young children.
Religious broadcasters and almost all the television tabloid and
magazine programs have done shows on satanism and the occult. Heavy
metal and black metal music, which often has a satanic theme, is
readily available and popular. In addition to the much-debated
fantasy role-playing games, there are numerous popular toys on the
market with an occult-oriented, bizarre, or violent theme.
Books on satanism and the occult, both fiction and nonfiction, are
readily available in most bookstores, especially Christian
bookstores. Several recent books specifically discuss the issue of
ritual abuse of children. Obviously, very young children do not read
this material, but their parents, relatives, and therapists might
and then discuss it in front of or with them. Much of the material
intended to fight the problem actually fuels the problem and damages
effective prosecution.
1608
-- d. SUGGESTIONS AND LEADING QUESTIONS.
This problem is particularly important in cases stemming from
custody/visitation disputes involving at least one child under the
age of seven. It is my opinion that most suggestive, leading
questioning of children by intervenors is inadvertently done as part
of a good-faith effort to learn the truth. Not all intervenors are
in equal positions to potentially influence victim allegations.
Parents and relatives especially are in a position to subtly
influence their young children to describe their victimization in a
certain way. Children may also overhear their parents discussing the
details of the case. Children often tell their parents what they
believe their parents want or need to hear. Some children may be
instinctively attempting to provide "therapy" for their parents by
telling them what seems to satisfy them and somehow makes them feel
better. In one case a father gave the police a tape recording to
"prove" that his child's statements were spontaneous disclosures and
not the result of leading, suggestive questions. The tape recording
indicated just the opposite. Why then did the father voluntarily
give it to the police? Probably because he truly believed that he
was not influencing his child's statements - but he was.
Therapists are probably in the best position to influence the
allegations of adult survivors. The accuracy and reliability of the
accounts of adult survivors who have been hypnotized during therapy
is certainly open to question. One nationally-known therapist
personally told me that the reason police cannot find out about
satanic or ritualistic activity from child victims is that they do
not know how to ask leading questions. Highly suggestive books and
pictures portraying "satanic" activity have been developed and
marketed to therapists for use during evaluation and treatment.
Types and styles of verbal interaction useful in therapy may create
significant problems in a criminal investigation. It should be
noted, however, that when a therapist does a poor investigative
interview as part of a criminal investigation, that is the fault of
the criminal justice system that allowed it and not the therapist
who did it.
The extremely sensitive, emotional, and religious nature of these
cases makes problems with leading questions more likely than in
other kinds of cases. Intervenors motivated by religious fervor
and/or exaggerated concerns about sexual abuse of children are more
likely to lose their objectivity.
-- e. MISPERCEPTION AND CONFUSION.
In one case, a child's description of the apparently impossible act
of walking through a wall turned out to be the very possible act of
walking between the studs of an unfinished wall in a room under
construction. In another case, pennies in the anus turned out to be
copper-foil-covered suppositories. The children may describe what
they believe happened. It is not a lie, but neither is it an
accurate account of what happened.
1609
-- f. EDUCATION AND AWARENESS PROGRAMS.
Some well-intentioned awareness programs designed to prevent child
set abuse, alert professionals, or fight satanism may in fact be
unrealistically increasing the fears of professionals, children, and
parents and creating self-fulfilling prophesies. Some of what
children and their parents are telling intervenors may have been
learned in or fueled by such programs. Religious programs, books,
and pamphlets that emphasize the power and evil force of Satan may
be adding to the problem. In fact most of the day care centers in
which ritualistic abuse is alleged to hate taken place are church-
affiliated centers, and many of the adult survivors alleging it come
from apparently religious families.
8. LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSPECTIVE.
The perspective with which one looks at satanic, occult, or
ritualistic crime is extremely important. As stated, sociologists,
therapists, religious leaders, parents, and just plain citizens each
have their own valid concerns and views about this issue. This
discussion, however, deals primarily with the law enforcement or
criminal justice perspective.
When you combine an emotional issue such as the sexual abuse of
children with an even more emotional issue such as people's
religious beliefs, it is difficult to maintain objectivity and
remember the law enforcement perspective. Some police officers may
even feel that all crime is caused by evil, all evil is caused by
Satan, and therefore, all crime is satanic crime. This may be a
valid religious perspective, but it is of no relevance to the
investigation of crime for purposes of prosecution.
Many of the police officers who lecture on satanic or occult crime
do not even investigate such cases. Their presentations are more a
reflection of their personal religious beliefs than documented
investigative information. They are absolutely entitled to their
beliefs, but introducing themselves as current or former police
officers and then speaking as religious advocates causes confusion.
As difficult as it might be, police officers must separate the
religious and law enforcement perspectives when they are lecturing
or investigating in their official capacities as law enforcement
officers. Many law enforcement officers begin their presentations by
stating that they are not addressing or judging anyone's religious
beliefs, and then proceed to do exactly that.
Some police officers have resigned rather than curtail or limit
their involvement in this issue as ordered by their departments.
Perhaps such officers deserve credit for recognizing that they could
no longer keep the perspectives separate.
1610
Law enforcement officers and all professionals in this field should
avoid the "paranoia" that has crept into this issue and into some of
the training conferences. Paranoid type belief systems are
characterized by the gradual development of intricate, complex, and
elaborate systems of thinking based on and often proceeding
logically from misinterpretation of actual events. Paranoia
typically involves hypervigilance over the perceived threat, the
belief that danger is around every corner, and the willingness to
take up the challenge and do something about it. Another very
important aspect of this paranoia is the belief that those who do
not recognize the threat are evil and corrupt. In this extreme view,
you are either with them or against them. You are either part of the
solution or part of the problem.
Overzealousness and exaggeration motivated by the true religious
fervor of those involved is more acceptable than that motivated by
ego or profit. There are those who are deliberately distorting and
hyping this issue for personal notoriety and profit. Satanic and
occult crime and ritual abuse of children has become a growth
industry. Speaking fees, books, video and audio tapes, prevention
material, television and radio appearances all bring egoistic and
financial rewards.
Bizarre crime and evil can occur without organized satanic activity.
The professional perspective requires that we distinguish between
what we know and what we're not sure of.
The facts are:
-- a. Some individuals believe in and are involved in something
commonly called satanism and the occult.
-- b. Some of these individuals commit crime.
-- c. Some groups of individuals share these beliefs and involvement
in this satanism and the occult.
-- d. Some members of these groups commit crime together.
The unanswered questions are:
-- a. What is the connection between the belief system and the
crimes committed?
-- b. Is there an organized conspiracy of satanic and occult
believers responsible for interrelated serious crime (e.g.,
molestation, murder)?
After all the hype and hysteria are put aside, the realization sets
in that most satanic/occult activity involves the commission of *no*
crimes, and that which does usually involves the commission of
relatively minor crimes such as trespassing, vandalism, cruelty to
animals, or petty thievery.
1611
The law enforcement problems most often linked to satanic or occult
activity are:
-- a. Vandalism.
-- b. Desecration of churches and cemeteries.
-- c. Thefts from churches and cemeteries.
-- d. Teenage gangs
-- e. Animal mutilations.
-- f. Teenage suicide.
-- g. Child abuse.
-- h. Kidnapping.
-- i. Murder and human sacrifice
Valid evidence shows some "connection" between satanism and the
occult and the first six problems (#a-f) set forth above. The
"connection" to the last three problems (#g-i) is far more
uncertain.
Even where there seems to be a "connection", the nature of the
connection needs to be explored. It is easy to blame involvement in
satanism and the occult for behaviors that have complex motivations.
A teenager's excessive involvement in satanism and the occult is
usually a symptom of a problem and not the cause of a problem.
Blaming satanism for a teenager's vandalism, theft, suicide, or even
act of murder is like blaming a criminal's offenses on his tattoos:
Both are often signs of the same rebelliousness and lack of self-
esteem that contribute to the commission of crimes.
The rock band Judas Priest was recently sued for allegedly inciting
two teenagers to suicide through subliminal messages in their
recordings. In 1991 Anthony Pratkanis of the University of
California at Santa Cruz, who served as an expert witness for the
defense, stated the boys in question "lived troubled lives, lives of
drug and alcohol abuse, run-ins with the law ... family violence,
and chronic unemployment. What issues did the trial and the
subsequent mass media coverage emphasize? Certainly not the need for
drug treatment centers; there was no evaluation of the pros and cons
of America's juvenile justice system, no investigation of the
schools, no inquiry into how to prevent family violence, no
discussion of the effects of unemployment on a family. Instead our
attention was mesmerized by an attempt to count the number of
subliminal demons that can dance on the end of a record needle" (p.
1).
1612
The law enforcement investigator must objectively evaluate the legal
significance of any criminal's spiritual beliefs. In most cases,
including those involving satanists, it will have little or no legal
significance. If a crime is committed as part of a spiritual belief
system, it should make no difference which belief system it is. The
crime is the same whether a child is abused or murdered as part of a
Christian, Hare Krishna, Moslem, or any other belief system. We
generally don't label crimes with the name of the perpetrator's
religion. Why then are the crimes of child molesters, rapists,
sadists, and murderers who happen to be involved in satanism and the
occult labeled as satanic or occult crimes? If criminals use a
spiritual belief system to rationalize and justify or to facilitate
and enhance their criminal activity, should the focus of law
enforcement be on the belief system or on the criminal activity?
Several documented murders have been committed by individuals
involved in one way or another in satanism or the occult. In some of
these murders the perpetrator has even introduced elements of the
occult (e.g. satanic symbols at crime scene). Does that
automatically make these satanic murders? It is my opinion that the
answer is no. Ritualistic murders committed by serial killers or
sexual sadists are not necessarily satanic or occult murders.
Ritualistic murders committed by psychotic killers who hear the
voice of Satan are no more satanic murders than murders committed by
psychotic killers who hear the voice of Jesus are Christian murders.
Rather a satanic murder should be defined as one committed by two or
more individuals who rationally plan the crime and whose *primary*
motivation is to fulfill a prescribed satanic ritual calling for the
murder. By this definition I have been unable to identify even one
documented satanic murder in the United States. Although such
murders may have and can occur, they appear to be few in number. In
addition the commission of such killings would probably be the
beginning of the end for such a group. It is highly unlikely that
they could continue to kill several people, every year, year after
year, and not be discovered.
A brief typology of satanic and occult practitioners is helpful in
evaluating what relationship, if any, such practices have to crimes
under investigation. The following typology is adapted from the
investigative experience of Officer Sandi Gallant of the San
Francisco Police Department, who began to study the criminal aspects
of occult activity long before it became popular. No typology is
perfect, but I use this typology because it is simple and offers
investigative insights. Most practitioners fall into one of three
categories, any of which can be practiced alone or in groups:
1613
-- a. "YOUTH SUBCULTURE.
"Most teenagers involved in fantasy role-playing games, heavy metal
music, or satanism and the occult are going through a stage of
adolescent development and commit no significant crimes. The
teenagers who have more serious problems are usually those from
dysfunctional families or those who have poor communication within
their families. These troubled teenagers turn to satanism and the
occult to overcome a sense of alienation, to rebel, to obtain power,
or to justify their antisocial behavior. For these teenagers it is
the symbolism, not the spirituality, that is more important. It is
either the psychopathic or the oddball, loner teenager who is most
likely to get into serious trouble. Extreme involvement in the
occult is a symptom of a problem, not the cause. This is not to
deny, however, that satanism and the occult can be negative
influences for a troubled teenager. But to hysterically warn
teenagers to avoid this "mysterious, powerful and dangerous" thing
called satanism will drive more teenagers right to it. Some
rebellious teenagers will do whatever will most shock and outrage
society in order to flaunt their rejection of adult norms.
-- b. "DABBLERS (SELF-STYLED).
"For these practitioners there is little or no spiritual motivation.
They may mix satanism, witchcraft, paganism, and any aspects of the
occult to suit their purposes. Symbols mean whatever they want them
or believe them to mean. Molesters, rapists, drug dealers, and
murderers may dabble in the occult and may even commit their crimes
in a ceremonial or ritualistic way. This category has the potential
to be the most dangerous, and most of the "satanic" killers fall
into this category. Their involvement in satanism and the occult is
a symptom of a problem, and a rationalization and justification of
antisocial behavior. Satanic/occult practices (as well as those of
other spiritual belief systems) can also be used as a mechanism to
facilitate criminal objectives.
-- c. "TRADITIONAL (ORTHODOX).
"These are the so-called true believers. They are often wary of
outsiders. Because of this and constitutional issues, such groups
are difficult for law enforcement to penetrate. Although there may
be much we don't know about these groups, as of now there is little
or no hard evidence that as a group they are involved in serious,
organized criminal activity. In addition, instead of being self-
perpetuating master crime conspirators, "true believers" probably
have a similar problem with their teenagers rebelling against their
belief system. To some extent even these Traditional satanists are
self-stylized. They practice what they have come to believe is
"satanism". There is little or no evidence of the much-discussed
multigenerational satanists whose beliefs and practices have
supposedly been passed down through the centuries. Many admitted
adult satanists were in fact raised in conservative Christian
homes."
1614
_Washington Post_ editor Walt Harrington reported in a 1986 story on
Anton LaVey and his Church of Satan that "sociologists who have
studied LaVey's church say that its members often had serious
childhood problems like alcoholic parents or broken homes, or that
they were traumatized by guilt-ridden fundamentalist upbringings,
turning to Satanism as a dramatic way to purge their debilitating
guilt" (p. 14).
Some have claimed that the accounts of ritual abuse victims coincide
with historical records of what traditional or multigenerational
satanists are known to have practiced down through the ages. Jeffrey
Burton Russell, Professor of History at the University of California
at Santa Barbara and the author of numerous scholarly books on the
devil and satanism, believes that the universal consensus of modern
historians on satanism is (personal communication, Nov. 1991):
"(1) incidents of orgy, infanticide, cannibalism, and other such
conduct have occurred from the ancient world down to the present;
(2) such incidents were isolated and limited to local antisocial
groups; (3) during the period of Christian dominance in European
culture, such groups were associated with the Devil in the minds of
the authorities; (4) in some cases the sectaries believed that they
were worshiping Satan; (5) no organized cult of Satanists existed in
the Christian period beyond localities, and on no account was there
ever any widespread Satanist organization or conspiracy; (6) no
reliable historical sources indicate that such organizations
existed; (7) the black mass appears only once in the sources before
the late nineteenth century."
Many police officers ask what to look for during the search of the
scene of suspected satanic activity. The answer is simple: Look for
evidence of a crime. A pentagram is no more criminally significant
than a crucifix unless it corroborates a crime or a criminal
conspiracy. If a victim's description of the location or the
instruments of the crime includes a pentagram, then the pentagram
would be evidence. But the same would be true if the description
included a crucifix. In many cases of alleged satanic ritual abuse,
investigation can find evidence that the claimed offenders are
members only of mainstream churches and are often described as very
religious.
There is no way any one law enforcement officer can become
knowledgeable about all the symbols and rituals of every spiritual
belief system that might become part of a criminal investigation.
The officer needs only to be trained to recognize the possible
investigative significance of such signs, symbols, and rituals.
Knowledgeable religious scholars, academics, and other true experts
in the community can be consulted if a more detailed analysis is
necessary.
Any analysis, however, may have only limited application, especially
to cases involving teenagers, dabblers, and other self-styled
practitioners. The fact is signs, symbols, and rituals can mean
anything that practitioners want them to mean and/or anything that
observers interpret them to mean.
1615
The meaning of symbols can also change over time, place, and
circumstance. Is a swastika spray-painted on a wall an ancient
symbol of prosperity and good fortune, a recent symbol of Nazism and
anti-Semitism, or a current symbol of hate, paranoia, and adolescent
defiance? The peace sign which in the 1960s was a familiar antiwar
symbol is now supposed to be a satanic symbol. Some symbols and
holidays become "satanic" only because the antisatanists say they
are. Then those who want to be "satanists" adopt them, and now you
have "proof" they are satanic.
In spite of what is sometimes said or suggested at law enforcement
training conferences, police have no authority to seize any satanic
or occult paraphernalia they might see during a search. A legally-
valid reason must exist for doing so. It is not the job of law
enforcement to prevent satanists from engaging in noncriminal
teaching, rituals, or other activities.
9. INVESTIGATING MULTIDIMENSIONAL CHILD SEX RINGS.
Multidimensional child sex rings can be among the most difficult,
frustrating, and complex cases that any law enforcement officer will
ever investigate. The investigation of allegations of recent
activity from multiple young children under the age of seven
presents one set of problems and must begin quickly, with interviews
of *all* potential victims being completed as soon as possible. The
investigation of allegations of activity ten or more years earlier
from adult survivors presents other problems and should proceed,
unless victims are at immediate risk, more deliberately, with
gradually-increasing resources as corroborated facts warrant.
In spite of any skepticism, allegations of ritual abuse should be
aggressively and thoroughly investigated, This investigation should
attempt to corroborate the allegations of ritual abuse. but should
*simultaneously* also attempt to identify alternative explanations.
The only debate is over how much investigation is enough. Any law
enforcement agency must be prepared to defend and justify its
actions when scrutinized by the public, the media, elected
officials, or the courts. This does not mean, however, that a law
enforcement agency has an obligation to prove that the alleged
crimes did not occur. This is almost always impossible to do and
investigators should be alert for and avoid this trap.
One major problem in the investigation of multidimensional child sex
rings is the dilemma of recognizing soon enough that you have one.
Investigators must be alert for cases with the potential for the
four basic dynamics: (a) multiple young victims, (b) multiple
offenders, (c) fear as the controlling tactic, and (d) bizarre or
ritualistic activity. The following techniques apply primarily to
the investigation of such multidimensional child sex rings:
1616
-- a. MINIMIZE SATANIC/OCCULT ASPECT.
There are those who claim that one of the major reasons more of
these cases have not been successfully prosecuted is that the
satanic/occult aspect has not been aggressively pursued. One state
has even introduced legislation creating added penalties when
certain crimes are committed as part of a ritual or ceremony. A few
states have passed special ritual crime laws. I strongly disagree
with such an approach. It makes no difference what spiritual belief
system was used to enhance and facilitate or rationalize and justify
criminal behavior. It serves no purpose to "prove" someone is a
satanist. As a matter of fact, if it is alleged that the subject
committed certain criminal acts under the influence of or in order
to conjure up supernatural spirits or forces, this may very well be
the basis for an insanity or diminished capacity defense, or may
damage the intent aspect of a sexually motivated crime. The defense
may very well be more interested in all the "evidence of satanic
activity". Some of the satanic crime "experts" who train law
enforcement wind up working or testifying for the defense in these
cases.
It is best to focus on the crime and all the evidence to corroborate
its commission. Information about local satanic or occult activity
is only of value if it is based on specific law enforcement
intelligence and not on some vague, unsubstantiated generalities
from religious groups. Cases are not solved by decoding signs,
symbols, and dates using undocumented satanic crime "manuals". In
one case a law enforcement agency executing a search warrant seized
only the satanic paraphernalia and left behind the other evidence
that would have corroborated victim statements. Cases are solved by
people- and behavior-oriented investigation. Evidence of satanic or
occult activity may help explain certain aspects of the case, but
even offenders who commit crimes in a spiritual context are usually
motivated by power, sex, and money.
-- b. KEEP INVESTIGATION AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS SEPARATE.
I believe that one of the biggest mistakes any investigator of these
cases can make is to attribute supernatural powers to the offenders.
During an investigation a good investigator may sometimes be able to
use the beliefs and superstitions of the offenders to his or her
advantage. The reverse happens if the investigator believes that the
offenders possess supernatural powers. Satanic/occult practitioners
have no more power than any other human beings. Law enforcement
officers who believe that the investigation of these cases puts them
in conflict with the supernatural forces of evil should probably not
be assigned to them. The religious beliefs of officers should
provide spiritual strength and support for them but should not
affect the objectivity and professionalism of the investigation.
1617
It is easy to get caught up in these cases and begin to see
"satanism" everywhere. Oversensitization to this perceived threat
may cause an investigator to "see" satanism in a crime when it
really is not there (quasi-satanism). Often the eye sees what the
mind perceives. It may also cause an investigator not to recognize a
staged crime scene deliberately seeded with "satanic clues" in order
to mislead the police (pseudo-satanism). On rare occasions an
overzealous investigator or intervenor may even be tempted to plant
"evidence of satanism" in order to corroborate such allegations and
beliefs. Supervisors need to be alert for and monitor these
reactions in their investigators.
-- c. LISTEN TO THE VICTIMS.
It is not the investigator's duty to believe the victims; it is his
or her job to listen and be an objective fact finder. Interviews of
young children should be done by investigators trained and
experienced in such interviews. Investigators must have direct
access to the alleged victims for interview purposes. Therapists for
an adult survivor sometimes want to act as intermediaries in their
patient's interview. This should be avoided if at all possible.
Adult survivor interviews are often confusing difficult and
extremely time-consuming. The investigator must remember however
that almost anything is possible. Most important the investigator
must remember that there is much middle ground. Just because one
event did happen does not mean that all reported events happened,
and just because one event did not happen does not mean that all
other events did not happen. Do not become such a zealot that you
believe it all nor such a cynic that you believe nothing. Varying
amounts and parts of the allegation may be factual. Attempting to
find evidence of what did happen is the great challenge of these
cases. *All* investigative interaction with victims must be
carefully and thoroughly documented.
-- d. ASSESS AND EVALUATE VICTIM STATEMENTS.
This is the part of the investigative process in child sexual
victimization cases that seems to have been lost. Is the victim
describing events and activities that are consistent with law
enforcement documented criminal behavior, or that are consistent
with distorted media accounts and erroneous public perceptions of
criminal behavior? Investigators should apply the "template of
probability". Accounts of child sexual victimization that are more
like books, television, and movies (e.g. big conspiracies, child sex
slaves, organized pornography rings) and less like documented cases
should be viewed with skepticism but thoroughly investigated.
Consider and investigate all possible explanations of events. It is
the investigator's job, and the information learned will be
invaluable in counteracting the defense attorneys when they raise
the alternative explanations.
1618
For example, an adult survivor's account of ritual victimization
might be explained by any one of at least four possibilities: First,
the allegations may be a fairly accurate account what actually
happened. Second, they may be deliberate lies (malingering), told
for the usual reasons people lie (e.g. money, revenge, jealousy).
Third, they may be deliberate lies (factitious disorder) told for
atypical reasons (e.g. attention, forgiveness). Lies so motivated
are less likely to be recognized by the investigator and more likely
to be rigidly maintained by the liar unless and until confronted
with irrefutable evidence to the contrary. Fourth, the allegations
may be a highly inaccurate account of what actually happened, but
the victim truly believes it (pseudomemory) and therefore is not
lying. A polygraph examination of such a victim would be of limited
value. Other explanations or combinations of these explanations are
also possible. *Only* thorough *investigation* will point to the
correct or most likely explanation.
Investigators cannot rely on therapists or satanic crime experts as
a shortcut to the explanation. In one case, the "experts" confirmed
and validated the account of a female who claimed to be a 15-year-
old deaf-mute kidnapped and held for three years by a satanic cult
and forced to participate in bizarre rituals before recently
escaping. Active investigation, however, determined she was a 27-
year-old woman who could hear and speak, who had not been kidnapped
by anyone, and who had a lengthy history of mental problems and at
least three other similar reports of false victimization. Her
"accurate" accounts of what the "real satanists" do were simply the
result of having read, while in mental hospitals, the same books
that the "experts" had. A therapist may have important insights
about whether an individual was traumatized, but knowing the exact
cause of that trauma is another matter. There have been cases where
investigation has discovered that individuals diagnosed by
therapists as suffering from Post-Vietnam Syndrome were never in
Vietnam or saw no combat.
Conversely, in another case, a law enforcement "expert" on satanic
crime told a therapist that a patient's accounts of satanic murders
in a rural Pacific Northwest town were probably true because the
community was a hotbed of such satanic activity. When the therapist
explained that there was almost no violent crime reported in the
community, the officer explained that that is how you know it is the
satanists. If you knew about the murders or found the bodies, it
would not be satanists. How do you argue with that kind of logic?
The first step in the assessment and evaluation of victim statements
is to determine the disclosure sequence, including how much time has
elapsed since disclosure was first made and the incident was
reported to the police or social services. The longer the delay, the
bigger the potential for problems. The next step is to determine the
number and purpose of *all prior* interviews of the victim
concerning the allegations. The more interviews conducted before the
investigative interview, the larger the potential for problems.
Although there is nothing wrong with admitting shortcomings and
seeking help, law enforcement should never abdicate its control over
the investigative interview. When an investigative interview is
conducted by or with a social worker or therapist using a team
approach, law enforcement must direct the process. Problems can also
be created by interviews conducted by various intervenors *after*
the investigative interview(s).
1619
The investigator must closely and carefully evaluate events in the
victim's life before, during, and after the alleged abuse.
Events to be evaluated *before* the alleged abuse include:
---- (1) Background of victim.
---- (2) Abuse of drugs in home.
---- (3) Pornography in home.
---- (4) Play, television, and VCR habits.
---- (5) Attitudes about sexuality in home.
---- (6) Extent of sex education in home.
---- (7) Activities of siblings.
---- (8) Need or craving for attention.
---- (9) Religious beliefs and training.
---- (10) Childhood fears.
---- (11) Custody/visitation disputes.
---- (12) Victimization of or by family members.
---- (13) Interaction between victims.
Events to be evaluated *during* the alleged abuse include:
---- (1) Use of fear or scare tactics.
---- (2) Degree of trauma.
---- (3) Use of magic deception or trickery.
---- (4) Use of rituals.
---- (5) Use of drugs.
---- (6) Use of pornography.
Events to be evaluated *after* the alleged abuse include:
---- (1) Disclosure sequence.
---- (2) Background of prior interviewers.
---- (3) Background of parents.
---- (4) Co-mingling of victims.
---- (5) Type of therapy received.
-- e. EVALUATE CONTAGION.
Consistent statements obtained from different multiple victims are
powerful pieces of corroborative evidence - that is as long as those
statements were not "contaminated". Investigation must carefully
evaluate both pre- and post-disclosure contagion, and both victim
and intervenor contagion. Are the different victim statements
consistent because they describe common experiences or events, or
because they reflect contamination or urban legends?
The sources of potential contagion are widespread. Victims can
communicate with each other both prior to and after their
disclosures. Intervenors can communicate with each other and with
victims. The team or cell concepts of investigation are attempts to
deal with potential investigator contagion. All the victims are not
interviewed by the same individuals, and interviewers do not
necessarily share information directly with each other. Teams report
to a leader or supervisor who evaluates the information and decides
what other investigators need to know.
1620
Documenting existing contagion and eliminating additional contagion
are crucial to the successful investigation and prosecution of these
cases. There is no way, however, to erase or undo contagion. The
best you can hope for is to identify and evaluate it and attempt to
explain it. Mental health professionals requested to evaluate
suspected victims must be carefully selected. Having a victim
evaluated by one of the self-proclaimed experts on satanic ritual
abuse or by some other overzealous intervenor may result in the
credibility of that victim's testimony being severely damaged.
In order to evaluate the contagion element, investigators must
meticulously and aggressively investigate these cases. The precise
disclosure sequence of the victim must be carefully identified and
documented. Investigators must verify through active investigation
the exact nature and content of each disclosure outcry or statement
made by the victim. Second-hand information about disclosure is not
good enough.
Whenever possible, personal visits should be made to all locations
of alleged abuse and the victim's homes. Events prior to the alleged
abuse must be carefully evaluated. Investigators may have to view
television programs, films, and videotapes seen by the victims. It
may be necessary to conduct a background investigation and
evaluation of everyone, both professional and nonprofessional, who
interviewed the victims about the allegations prior to and after the
investigative interview(s). Investigators must be familiar with the
information about ritual abuse of children being disseminated in
magazines, books, television programs, videotapes, and conferences.
Every possible way that a victim could have learned about the
details of the abuse must be explored if for no other reason than to
eliminate them and counter the defense's arguments.
There may, however, be validity to these contagion factors. *They
may explain some of the "unbelievable" aspects of the case and
result in the successful prosecution of the substance of the case.*
Consistency of statements becomes more significant if contagion is
identified or disproved by independent investigation. The easier
cases are the ones where there is a single, identifiable source of
contagion. Most cases, however, seem to involve multiple contagion
factors.
Munchausen Syndrome and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy are complex and
controversial issues in these cases. No attempt will be made to
discuss them in detail, but they are documented facts (Rosenberg,
1987). Most of the literature about them focuses on their
manifestation in the medical setting as false or self-inflicted
illness or injury. They are also manifested in the criminal justice
setting as false or self-inflicted crime victimization. If parents
would poison their children to prove an illness, they might sexually
abuse their children to prove a crime. "Victims" have been known to
destroy property, manufacture evidence, and mutilate themselves in
order to convince others of their victimization. The motivation is
psychological gain (i.e. attention, forgiveness, etc.) and not
necessarily money, jealousy, or revenge. These are the unpopular,
but documented, realities of the world. Recognizing their existence
does not mean that child sexual abuse and sexual assault are not
real and serious problems.
1621
-- f. ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS.
The importance and difficulty of this technique in extrafamilial
cases involving young children cannot be overemphasized. An
investigator must maintain ongoing communication with the parents of
victims in these abuse cases. Not all parents react the same way to
the alleged abuse of their children. Some are very supportive and
cooperative. Others overreact and some even deny the victimization.
Sometimes there is animosity and mistrust among parents with
different reactions. Once the parents lose faith in the police or
prosecutor and begin to interrogate their own children and conduct
their own investigation, the case may be lost forever. Parents from
one case communicate the results of their "investigation" with each
other, and some have even contacted the parents in other cases. Such
parental activity is an obvious source of potential contamination.
Parents must be made to understand that their children's credibility
will be jeopardized when and if the information obtained turns out
to be unsubstantiated or false. To minimize this problem, within the
limits of the law and without jeopardizing investigative techniques,
parents must be told on a regular basis how the case is progressing.
Parents can also be assigned constructive things to do (e.g.
lobbying for new legislation, working on awareness and prevention
programs) in order to channel their energy, concern, and "guilt".
-- g. DEVELOP A CONTINGENCY PLAN.
If a department waits until actually confronted with a case before a
response is developed, it may be too late. In cases involving
ongoing abuse of children, departments must respond quickly, and
this requires advanced planning. There are added problems for small-
to medium-sized departments with limited personnel and resources.
Effective investigation of these cases requires planning,
identification of resources, and, in many cases, mutual aid
agreements between agencies. The U.S. Department of Defense has
conducted specialized training and has developed such a plan for
child sex ring cases involving military facilities and personnel.
Once a case is contaminated and out of control, I have little advice
on how to salvage what may once have been a prosecutable criminal
violation. A few of these cases have even been lost on appeal after
a conviction because of contamination problems.
-- h. MULTIDISCIPLINARY TASK FORCES.
Sergeant Beth Dickinson, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department,
was the chairperson of the Multi-Victim, Multi-Suspect Child Sexual
Abuse Subcommittee. Sergeant Dickinson states (personal
communication, Nov. 1989):
"One of the biggest obstacles for investigators to overcome is the
reluctance of law enforcement administrators to commit sufficient
resources early on to an investigation that has the potential to be
a multidimensional child sex ring. It is important to get in and get
on top of the investigation in a timely manner - to get it
investigated in a timely manner in order to assess the risk to
children and to avoid hysteria, media sensationalism, and cross-
contamination of information. The team approach reduces stress on
individual investigators, allowing for peer support and minimizing
feelings of being overwhelmed."
1622
The team approach and working together does not mean, however, that
each discipline forgets its role and starts doing the other's job.
-- i. SUMMARY.
The investigation of child sex rings can be difficult and time
consuming. The likelihood, however, of a great deal of corroborative
evidence in a multivictim/multioffender case increases the chances
of a successful prosecution if the crime occurred. Because there is
still so much we do not know or understand about the dynamics of
multidimensional child sex rings, investigative techniques are less
certain. Each new case must be carefully evaluated in order to
improve investigative procedures.
Because mental health professionals seem to be unable to determine,
with any degree of certainty, the accuracy of victim statements in
these cases, law enforcement must proceed using the corroboration
process. If some of what the victim describes is accurate, some
misperceived, some distorted, and some contaminated, what is the
jury supposed to believe? Until mental health professionals can come
up with better answers, the jury should be asked to believe what the
*investigation* can corroborate. Even if only a portion of what
these victims allege is factual, that may still constitute
significant criminal activity.
10. CONCLUSION.
There are many possible alternative answers to the question of why
victims are alleging things that don't seem to be true. The first
step in finding those answers is to admit the possibility that some
of what the victims describe may not have happened. Some experts
seem unwilling to even consider this. Most of these victims are also
probably not lying and have come to believe that which they are
alleging actually happened. There are alternative explanations for
why people who never met each other can tell the same story.
I believe that there is a middle ground - a continuum of possible
activity. Some of what the victims allege may be true and accurate,
some may be misperceived or distorted, some may be screened or
symbolic, and some may be "contaminated" or false. The problem and
challenge, especially for law enforcement, is to determine which is
which. This can only be done through active investigation. I believe
that the majority of victims alleging "ritual" abuse are in fact
victims of some form of abuse or trauma. That abuse or trauma may or
may not be criminal in nature. After a lengthy discussion about
various alternative explanations and the continuum of possible
activity, one mother told me that for the first time since the
victimization of her young son she felt a little better. She had
thought her only choices were that either her son was a pathological
liar or, on the other hand, she lived in a community controlled by
satanists.
Law enforcement has the obvious problem of attempting to determine
what actually happened for criminal justice purposes. Therapists,
however, might also be interested in what really happened in order
to properly evaluate and treat their patients. How and when to
confront patients with skepticism is a difficult and sensitive
problem for therapists.
1623
Any professional evaluating victims' allegations of "ritual" abuse
cannot ignore or routinely dismiss the lack of physical evidence (no
bodies or physical evidence left by violent murders); the difficulty
in successfully committing a large-scale conspiracy crime (the more
people involved in any crime conspiracy, the harder it is to get
away with it); and human nature (intragroup conflicts resulting in
individual self-serving disclosures are likely to occur in any group
involved in organized kidnapping, baby breeding, and human
sacrifice). If and when members of a destructive cult commit
murders, they are bound to make mistakes, leave evidence, and
eventually make admissions in order to brag about their crimes or to
reduce their legal liability. The discovery of the murders in
Matamoros, Mexico in 1989 and the results of the subsequent
investigation are good examples of these dynamics.
Overzealous intervenors must accept the fact that some of their
well-intentioned activity is contaminating and damaging the
prosecutive potential of the cases where criminal acts did occur. We
must all (i.e., the media, churches, therapists, victim advocates,
law enforcement, and the general public) ask ourselves if we have
created an environment where victims are rewarded, listened to,
comforted, and forgiven in direct proportion to the severity of
their abuse. Are we encouraging needy or traumatized individuals to
tell more and more outrageous tales of their victimization? Are we
making up for centuries of denial by now blindly accepting any
allegation of child abuse no matter how absurd or unlikely? Are we
increasing the likelihood that rebellious, antisocial, or attention-
seeking individuals will gravitate toward "satanism" by publicizing
it and overreacting to it? The overreaction to the problem can be
worse than the problem.
The amount of "ritual" child abuse going on in this country depends
on how you define the term. One documented example of what I might
call "ritual" child abuse was the horror chronicled in the book _A
Death in White Bear Lake_ (Siegal, 1990). The abuse in this case,
however, had little to do with anyone's spiritual belief system.
There are many children in the United States who, starting early in
their lives, are severely psychologically, physically, and sexually
traumatized by angry, sadistic parents or other adults. Such abuse,
however, is not perpetrated only or primarily by satanists. The
statistical odds are that such abusers are members of mainstream
religions. If 99.9% of satanists and 0.1% of Christians abuse
children as part of their spiritual belief system, that still means
that the vast majority of children so abused were abused by
Christians.
Until hard evidence is obtained and corroborated, the public should
not be frightened into believing that babies are being bred and
eaten, that 50,000 missing children are being murdered in human
sacrifices, or that satanists are taking over America's day care
centers or institutions. No one can prove with absolute certainty
that such activity has *not* occurred. The burden of proof, however,
as it would be in a criminal prosecution, is on those who claim that
it has occurred.
1624
The explanation that the satanists are too organized and law
enforcement is too incompetent only goes so far in explaining the
lack of evidence. For at least eight years American law enforcement
has been aggressively investigating the allegations of victims of
ritual abuse. There is little or no evidence for the portion of
their allegations that deals with large-scale baby breeding, human
sacrifice, and organized satanic conspiracies. Now it is up to
mental health professionals, not law enforcement, to explain why
victims are alleging things that don't seem to have happened.
Professionals in this field must accept the fact that there is still
much we do not know about the sexual victimization of children, and
that this area desperately needs study and research by rational,
objective social scientists.
If the guilty are to be successfully prosecuted, if the innocent are
to be exonerated, and if the victims are to be protected and
treated, better methods to evaluate and explain allegations of
"ritual" child abuse must be developed or identified. Until this is
done, the controversy will continue to cast a shadow over and fuel
the backlash against the validity and reality of child sexual abuse.
XI. REFERENCES.
American Psychiatric Association, _Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders_ (3rd Ed., Rev.). Washington, DC: 1987.
Breiner, S.J., _Slaughter of the Innocents: Child Abuse Through the
Ages and Today_. New York: Plenum Press, 1990.
Brown, R., _Prepare for War_. Chino, CA: Chick Publications, 1987.
Brunvand, J.H., _The Vanishing Hitchhiker_. New York: Norton, 1981.
Harrington, Walt, "The Devil in Anton LaVey". Washington, D.C.: _The
Washington Post Magazine_, February 23, 1986, pages #6-17.
Lanning, K.V., _Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis_ (2nd Ed.).
Washington, D.C.: National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, 1987.
Lanning, K.V. (1989). Child sex rings: A behavioral analysis.
Washington, DC: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
LaVey, Anton, _The Satanic Bible_. New York: Avon Books, 1969.
Mayer, R.S., _Satan's Children_. New York: Putnam, 1991.
Michigan Department of State Police, _Occult Survey_. East Lansing,
Michigan, 1990.
_National Coalition on Television Violence (NCTV) News_, June-
October 1988, page #3.
_National Incidence Studies on Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and
Thrownaway Children in America_. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department
of Justice, 1990.
Prattanis, A., "Hidden messages", _Wellness Letter_. Berkeley,
California: University of California, January 1991, pages #1-2.
1625
Rosenberg, D.A., "Web of Deceit: A Literature Review of Munchausen
Syndrome by Proxy", _Child Abuse and Neglect_ #2, 1987, pages #547-
563.
Rush, E., _The Best Kept Secret: Sexual Abuse of Children_. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1980.
Smith, M., & Pazder, L., _Michelle Remembers_. New York: Congdon and
Lattis, 1980.
Siegal, B., _A Death in White Bear Lake_. New York: Bantam, 1990.
"Stranger-Abduction Homicides of Children", _Juvenile Justice
Bulletin_. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Department of Justice, 1989.
Stratford. L., _Satan's Underground_. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House,
1988.
Terr, L., _Too Scared to Cry_. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.
Timnik, L., "The Times Poll", _Los Angeles Times_, August 25-26,
1985.
Virginia Crime Commission Task Force, _Final Report of the Task
Force Studying Ritual Crime_. Richmond, Virginia.
12. SUGGESTED READING.
-- a. Cooper, John Charles, _The Black Mask: Satanism in America
Today_. Old Tappen, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1990.
Probably the best of the large number of books available primarily
in Christian bookstores and written from the Christian perspective.
This one, however, is written without the hysteria and
sensationalism of most. Recommended for investigators who want
information from this perspective.
-- b. Hicks, Robert D., _In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the
Occult_. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1991.
Undoubtedly the best book written to date on the topic of satanism
and the occult from the law enforcement perspective. Robert D. Hicks
is a former police officer who is currently employed as a criminal
justice analyst for the state of Virginia. Must reading for any
criminal justice professional involved in this issue. Unfortunately,
in the chapter on "Satanic Abuse of Children", the author appears to
have been overly influenced by extreme skeptics with minimal or
questionable credentials in this area. The book is easy to read,
logical, and highly recommended.
1626
-- c. Richardson, James T.; Best, Joel; & Bromley, David G.; Eds,
_The Satanism Scare_. NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 1991.
The best book now available on the current controversy over satanism
written from the academic perspective, The editors and many of the
chapter authors are college professors and have written an
objective, well-researched book. One of the great strengths of this
book is the fact that the editors address a variety of the
controversial issues from a variety of disciplines (i.e., sociology,
history, folklore, anthropology, criminal justice). Because of its
academic perspective it is sometimes harder to read but is well
worth the effort. The chapter on "Law Enforcement and the Satanic
Crime Connection" contains the results of a survey of "Cult Cops"
and is must reading for law enforcement officers. The chapter on
"Satanism and Child Molestation: Constructing the Ritual Abuse
Scare" was written, however, by a free-lance journalist who seems to
take the position that these cases involve little or no real child
abuse.
-- d. Terr, Lenore, _Too Scared to Cry: Psychic Trauma in
Childhood_. New York: Harper and Row, 1990.
An excellent book written by a psychiatrist that provides important
insights into the nature and recallability of early psychic trauma.
For me, Dr. Terr's research and findings in the infamous Chowchilla
kidnapping case shed considerable light on the "ritual" abuse
controversy.
1627
PERSECUTION: ANCIENT AND MODERN
This is the text of a talk entitled PERSECUTION: ANCIENT AND MODERN.
Written by Julia Phillips, it was presented by Julia and Matthew
Sandow at the Wiccan Conference, Canberra, September 1992, and was
illustrated with slides of medieval woodcuts, paintings and documents.
To begin, an example of religious persecution:
I am told that, moved by some foolish urge, they consecrate and
worship the head of a donkey, that most abject of all animals. This
is a cult worthy of the customs from which it sprang! Others say that
they reverence the genitals of the presiding priest himself, and adore
them as though they were their father's... As for the initiation of
new members, the details are as disgusting as they are well-known. A
child, covered in dough to deceive the unwary, is set before the
would-be novice. The novice stabs the child to death with invisible
blows; indeed, he himself, deceived by the coating of dough, thinks
his stabs harmless. Then - it's horrible! - they hungrily drink the
child's blood, and compete with one another as they divide his limbs.
Through this victim they are bound together; and the fact that they
all share the knowledge of the crime pledges them all to silence. Such
holy rites are more disgraceful than sacrilege. It is well-known too
what happens at their feasts.... On the feast day they forgather with
all their children, sisters, mothers, people of either sex and all
ages. When the company is all aglow from feasting, and impure lust has
been set afire by drunkenness, pieces of meat are thrown to a dog
fastened to a lamp. The lamp, which would have been a betraying
witness, is overturned and goes out. Now, in the dark so favourable to
shameless behaviour, they twine the bonds of unnameable passion, as
chance decides. And so all alike are incestuous, if not always in
deed, at least by complicity; for everything that is performed by one
of them corresponds to the wishes of them all... Precisely the secrecy
of this evil religion proves that all these things, or practically
all, are true. (Minucius Felix: Octavius)
Although the language is not modern, the description of the practices
could have come straight from last week's "Picture" magazine! And this
is the point that I wish to make; the facts of persecution have not
changed in almost 2,000 years, for that piece was written in the 2nd
century AD. Moreover, the religion it condemns is Christianity, not
Paganism, for Paganism at that time was the dominant state religion.
In fact the author is a Christian apologist, and is attempting to
rebuke what he sees as unfair criticism, by parodying the offences
which Pagans accuse Christians of perpetrating.
Persecution of religious minorities is quite simply that; it is
persecution by a large body of people - generally those who represent
"society" - against a smaller one; generally comprised of those who
have either rejected, or for one reason or another, fall outside of
the social "norm".
1628
Let us look at the medieval picture of the witch; society's scapegoat
par excellence: here we see her - for it is most often "her" - an old,
ugly woman, most likely poor, and most likely on the fringe of the
society in which she lives. This is the stereotype of the witch. We
know it is false; we know it has no basis in fact; however, it became
an integral part of the mindset of medieval Europe, and through fairy
tales, drama and literature, and more latterly, cinema, the media and
television, it has remained an integral image in modern society. One
has only to look to Roald Dahl's "Witches", or Frank Baum's "Wizard of
Oz", for proof of this. It came as a surprise to me to learn that
"The Wizard of Oz" was in fact a deliberate propaganda exercise,
released just at the beginning of World War II. If you remember, the
magic words are: "There's no place like home"; and where was "home"?
Kansas! that epitome of the WASP culture.
When looking at medieval persecution of heresy, the waters are muddied
by the many different causes and effects which permeate the whole
matter. There was no single cause, and no single victim. It is a fact
that far more women than men were persecuted; there are a number of
reasons for this, not least that throughout this period, Europe was
engaged in one war after another - most notably The Crusades - and men
were in rather short supply. There were also several epidemics of the
plague, not to mention other diseases such as dysentery and cholera,
which in the Middle Ages were sure killers. Another reason is the
rampant misogyny which, begun with the earliest Christians, has
permeated their theology ever since:
"What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an
inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a nat-
ural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic
danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature,
painted in fair colours... The word woman is used
to mean the lust of the flesh, as it is said: I
have found a woman more bitter than death, and a
good woman more subject to carnal lust... [Women]
are more credulous; and since the chief aim of the
devil is to corrupt faith, therefore he rather
attacks them [than men]... Women are naturally
more impressionable... They have slippery tongues,
and are unable to conceal from their fellow-women
those things which by evil arts they know....
Women are intellectually like children... She is
more carnal than a man, as is clear from her many
carnal abominations... She is an imperfect animal,
she always deceives.... Therefore a wicked woman
is by her nature quicker to waver in her faith,
and consequently quicker to abjure the faith,
which is the root of witchcraft.... Just as th-
rough the first defect in their intelligence they
are more prone to abjure the faith; so through
their second defect of inordinate affections and
passions they search for, brood over, and inflict
various vengeances, either by witchcraft or by
some other means.... Women also have weak mem-
ories; and it is a natural vice in them not to be
disciplined, but to follow their own impulses
without any sense of what is due... She is a liar
by nature... (Malleus Maleficarum, edited by
Jeffrey Russell).
1629
It is easy to comprehend the persecution of women when one is con-
fronted with such obvious hatred and fear of the sex. But perhaps the
most powerful impetus of the witch trials era is one which is subtly -
and sometimes not so subtly! - present in all the trials; that of a
pursuit of power or wealth. For an example we can look to Gilles de
Rais, who as the wealthiest man in Europe (as well as Joan of Arc's
military Captain), was a prime victim for a charge of heresy. Found
guilty, his lands, properties and wealth were confiscated by his
accusers. Curiously though he was buried on consecrated ground in the
Churchyard; normally forbidden to heretics. In "The Encyclopaedia of
Witchcraft and Demonology", Russell Hope Robbins says:
"At first, Gilles dismissed their accusations as
"frivolous and lacking credit", but so certain
were the principals of finding him guilty that on
September 3, fifteen days before the trial began,
the Duke disposed of his anticipated share of the
Rais lands. Under these circumstances, it is
difficult to place any credence in the evidence
against him, among the most fantastic and obscene
presented in this Encyclopaedia."
Charges included the now obligatory conjurations of devils and demons
- Satan, Beelzebub, Orion and Belial are mentioned by name - and the
practice of that dreadful art: geomancy! And of course the charges
included human sacrifice and paedophilia; no self-respecting Christian
could exclude these crimes from charges against a confirmed heretic!
There were not many who had the wealth of Gilles de Rais, but in
a small parish, even the meanest property was eagerly seized, and
the witch hunts became a profitable business. The victims were even
required to pay for the fuel upon which they were burnt. But the laws
were not consistent throughout Europe, and in some areas, if the
victim confessed, then his or her property could not be confiscated,
but was inherited by the next of kin. However, many of these victims
were in fact devout Christians, who would be loath to confess to
heresy just so that their family could inherit their land! Of course
many were tortured to the point were they would admit to being any-
thing demanded of them, although technically, they were only allowed
to be tortured once. This is why you will read in trials records that
the torture was "continued", which, of course, gets round the problem
of the poor torturer missing out on his lunch and dinner.
Although most heretics were women, a great many men were also taken,
tortured, and put to death. This is a letter from one such victim at
the notorious Bamberg in Germany; a poignant epitaph to one of Eur-
ope's most hideous crimes:
Many hundred thousand good-nights, dearly beloved
daughter Veronica. Innocent have I come into pris-
on, innocent have I been tortured, innocent must I
die. For whoever comes into the witch prison must
become a witch or be tortured until he invents
something out of his head - and God pity him -
bethinks him of something.
I said: "I have never renounced God, and will
never do it - God graciously keep me from it. I'll
rather bear whatever I must."
1630
And then came also - God in highest heaven have
mercy - the executioner, and put the thumbscrews
on me, both hands bound together, so that the
blood spurted from the nails and everywhere,
so that for four weeks I could not use my hands,
as you can see from my writing. Thereafter they
stripped me, bound my hands behind me, and drew me
up on the ladder. Then I thought heaven and earth
were at an end. Eight times did they draw me up
and let me fall again, so that I suffered terrible
agony.
All this happened on Friday June 30th and with
God's help I had to bear the torture. When at last
the executioner led me back into the cell, he said
to me: "Sir, I beg you, for God's sake, confess
something, whether it be true or not. Invent some-
thing, for you cannot bear the torture which you
will be put to; and, even if you bear it all, yet
you will not escape, not even if you were an earl,
but one torture will follow another until you say
you are a witch."
The author of this letter, Johannes Junius, did indeed confess to
being a witch, and in August of 1628, was burned at the stake. He
managed to send his final letter to his daughter, which ended by
saying:
Dear child, keep this letter secret, so that peo-
ple do not find it, else I shall be tortured most
piteously and the jailers will be beheaded. So
strictly is it forbidden... Dear child, pay this
man a thaler... I have taken several days to write
this - my hands are both crippled. I am in a sad
plight. Good night, for your father Johannes Jun-
ius will never see you more.
This letter describes more accurately than any historical treatise
just how uncompromising the ecclesiastical courts were in their
hunt for heretics. Witches, of course, were only one kind of heretic.
I mentioned earlier that there are many causes, and many effects, to
the period which is commonly referred to as "The Burning Times", or
the Great Witch Hunt. It is often assumed by many people today that
Christianity has been the dominant western religion for 2,000 years.
This is not so. The death of Christ, which probably occurred in the
year AD 30, may have heralded the new religion, but there was cert-
ainly not an immediate conversion of the world to Christianity. Parts
of Scandinavia remained wholly Pagan until as late as the 12th cen-
tury. The British Isles and mainland Europe were converted to Chris-
tianity over a lengthy period covering mainly the 4th to 9th cen-
turies. Some parts have never truly been converted, and with the
opening up of the Eastern bloc countries, we are now re-discovering a
wealth of Pagan tradition and folklore that has been hidden for
hundreds of years: initially from the invading Christian mission-
aries, and then later from the various communist regimes.
1631
As the new religion of Christianity began to spread, many different
sects and cults appeared within its ranks. The Pope in Rome was the
nominal head, but rarely was the Pope a person of spiritual purity and
ascetic tastes; the political scene in Rome has always been cut-throat
and devious. A truly spiritual person would have lasted approximately
two seconds amongst the clever and calculating politicians who in-
fested the Papal See! The enormous wealth and power controlled by the
Pope was an incentive to the most grasping and corrupt of men at that
time to aspire to the Papacy. Pope Alexander VI (1492) is a superb ex-
ample of the type who made it to Europe's foremost political seat of
power: otherwise known as Rodrigo Borgia; father (yes, we all know
Catholics practise celibacy!) of Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia and Jofre,
and supreme commander of a private army of which any modern dictator
would be proud.
Because of their sumptuous lifestyle, their obvious disregard and
contempt for vows of poverty and chastity, and their abuse of the
spiritual authority invested in them, many spiritually inclined
Christians rejected the Catholic Church, and instead followed
leaders who lived simple, ascetic lives in accordance with the
teachings of Christ. Some of these sects became very popular,
and were soon perceived by the Pope as a threat to his status and
power. It has been suggested that the witch trials were a direct
result from the persecution of these sects. Rather than incorporate a
discussion of the different sects within this talk, handouts are
available which very briefly describe the main ones.
The main thrust was against the Cathars or Albigensians, and the
Waldensians (Vaudois), and it was their persecution which gave rise to
the legal machinery which developed into the Inquisition, and the
so-called witch hunts. It began with Pope Lucius III and the emperor,
Frederick I Barbarossa; they met at Verona in 1184, and issued the
decree "Ad abolendam", which excommunicated sects like the Cathars and
Waldensians, and laid down the procedures for ecclesiastical trial,
after which the accused would be handed over to the secular author-
ities for punishment. The punishment decreed was confiscation of
property, exile, or death. By the 12th century, burning had already
become the established means of execution for heretics, and so this
became enshrined in law.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Dominican Order of Friars
was established, and its members were instructed by the Pope to
investigate and prosecute heresy. From this simple beginning grew the
awesome machinery of the Inquisition, which although never aimed
particularly at witches, became a byword for terror in parts of
Europe.
As you can see, the motives for the heresy persecutions were not to
stamp out Paganism - although that was certainly a by-product - but
to remove the threat of any competition to the power of the Church
(and thus to the Pope), in Rome. And the greatest threat came from
other "Christian" sects, not the Pagans. The change from an accusatory
to an inquisitorial process became established, and the legal mach-
inery which allowed - indeed encouraged - individual psychopaths and
religious maniacs to persecute at will, was in place.
1632
Have you got a neighbour who annoys you? plays loud music, or who
keeps their smelly refuse next to your garden fence? Now your recourse
is to the local council or the police; in the Middle Ages, you simply
denounced the offender as a witch or heretic, and let the Church deal
with them for you. Not only did it cost you nothing, if you were
lucky, you might also inherit their property!
For once you were taken as a witch or a heretic, there was little
chance of escape. Certainly some victims were pardoned and released,
but the vast majority were not so lucky. When you consider the style
of questioning, this is not surprising:
1 How long have you been a witch?
2 Why did you become a witch?
3 How did you become a witch and what happened on that occasion?
4 Who is the one you chose to be your incubus? What was his name?
5 What was the name of your master among the evil demons?
6 What was the oath you were forced to render to him?
21 What animals have you bewitched to sickness and death, and
why did you commit such acts?
22 Who are your accomplices in evil...?
24 What is the ointment with which you rub your broomstick
made of...?
This set of questions came from Lorraine, and was used consistently
throughout the three centuries of the main persecutions. Bearing in
mind that the accused HAD to answer - no answer at all, or a denial,
was tantamount to guilt - you can see how easily the composite picture
of the witch evolved. As Rossell Hope Robbins says: "The confessions
of witches authenticated the experts, and the denunciations ensured a
continuing supply of victims. Throughout France and Germany this
procedure became standardised; repeated year after year, in time it
built up a huge mass of "evidence", all duly authorised, from the
mouths of the accused. On these confessions, later demonologists based
their compendiums and so formulated the classic conceptions of witchc-
raft, which never existed save in their own minds."
As the new religion of Christianity began to spread, many different
sects and cults appeared within its ranks. The Pope in Rome was the
nominal head, but rarely was the Pope a person of spiritual purity and
ascetic tastes; the political scene in Rome has always been cut-throat
and devious. A truly spiritual person would have lasted approximately
two seconds amongst the clever and calculating politicians who in-
fested the Papal See! The enormous wealth and power controlled by the
Pope was an incentive to the most grasping and corrupt of men at that
time to aspire to the Papacy. Pope Alexander VI (1492) is a superb ex-
ample of the type who made it to Europe's foremost political seat of
power: otherwise known as Rodrigo Borgia; father (yes, we all know
Catholics practise celibacy!) of Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia and Jofre,
and supreme commander of a private army of which any modern dictator
would be proud.
1633
It is also rather disturbing to discover just how important individual
religious maniacs appear to have been in the persecutions. Rather like
today, where a crusading tele-journalist, or evangelical vicar, can
cause untold harm to innocent people. Without exception, these accus-
ations are by those with an unhealthy mania against anyone whose
theology or practices differ from their own. In the words of one
modern evangelist: "if you're not fighting and winning, you're los-
ing.".
Conrad of Marburg, described by Norman Cohn as, "a blind fanatic", was
a severe and formidable persecutor. As confessor to the young 21
year-old Countess of Thuringia, he would trick her into "some trivial
and unwitting disobedience, and then have her and her maids flogged so
severely that the scars were visible weeks later". (Cohn). Conrad
became Germany's first official Inquisitor, and his zeal in denouncing
heretics was unsurpassed. Another Conrad, a lay-Dominican Friar, and
his sidekick Johannes, were also vigorous in denouncing heretics. As
they moved from village to village, they claimed to be able to iden-
tify a heretic by his or her appearance, based on nothing but their
own intuition. They were responsible for the burnings of many people,
and said, "we would gladly burn a hundred if just one among them were
guilty". (Annales Wormantiensis).
Their comment about appearance is an important one; as we saw earlier,
the stereotype of the witch hasn't changed much in hundreds of years.
We know it is false; we know that it exists only in the imagination of
the persecutors, and yet how powerful and enduring this stereotype has
proven to be.
If we think about this stereotype, what images do we conjure up? An
old woman - occasionally an old man; or perhaps a young and alluring
temptress? Flying through the air on a broomstick; worshipping a
devil, often in the form of a goat; trampling upon the sacred symbols
of Christianity; and of course our old friend the Sabbat, with its
practices of sexual license, debauchery, drunkenness and ritual
murder; the latter often of children.
But persecution does not restrict itself to witches; the similarities
between this stereotype and that of the Jew are obvious: Jews have
been persecuted throughout their history, but it is interesting to
compare some aspects of their persecution with that of witches.
In the 12th century, the word "Synagogue" was used for the first time
to describe the meeting place of heretics. Professor Russell says
that: "This usage, obviously designed to spite the Jews, was common
throughout the Middle Ages, being replaced only towards the end of the
15th century by the equally anti-Jewish term 'sabbat'.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica says on the subject of Jewish persecution
that: "To reinforce racial and religious prejudice, the prep | | |
