Satanic Panic!

When I started the research for this blog I thought it would be a fun Halloween topic.  How can you go wrong with a sociological event that sounds a lot like a crappy punk band circa 1986, right?  Further intriguing me were stories from people that had lived through the Satanic Panic of the 1980s involving church groups with amazing propaganda videos that carefully delineated the satanic influence of things as insidious as the Mister Ed theme song (1).  But, alas, as research continued I
realized that this really was perfect for Halloween.    The reasoning became singular: Satanic Panic really was terrifying.  Just not in the way I had originally thought. 

So let’s all prep our “are you fucking kidding me?” faces, and jump into the Satanic Panic.  

You mean “Satanic Panic” ISN’T a punk band?

It is not.  Instead, it is the colloquial term for what sociologists refer to as “Satanic Ritual Abuse Scare”, or SRAS.  It is a widespread fear concerning Satanic ritual abuse in a given community (2).  Technically, this occurs occasionally throughout history—the Salem Witch Trials, for example are often considered an SRAS.  But what we are discussing today is the SRAS that occurred in the United States in the 1980s.  However, the parallels to the witch trials of the late seventeenth century won’t be lost on anyone with even a tertiary knowledge of them. 

But let’s go back a little to give some context to this. 

The 1960s in America were a strange time.  There was a war going on.  There were fancy new drugs all over the place, and women were wearing mini-skirts.  And then in 1966 Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan in San Francisco (3).  Initially, no one was entirely concerned since those in San Francisco are just strange to begin with, but after a documentary in 1970, book in 1969, and some notable people getting attracted to the church throughout the sixties, the church’s existence was common knowledge by the mid-1970s.  Which was perfect since it was in the mid-1970s—1975, to be exact—that the Church of Satan was confronted with a rival:  the Temple of Set (4).  Both churches still exist, and existed throughout the ensuing SRAS. 

Anton LaVey (churchof satan.com)

Neither of these churches, or any members of them (as far as I could find) were ever charged or convicted of any crime associated with the Panic itself, however, they served as a backdrop for what would ensue.  Once these churches became household names, average Americans became aware that actual Satanists existed in the United States.  Coincidentally, as the existence of Satanists in North America became common knowledge, the number of working parent households and single parent households began to rise, which meant more kids were either “latch-key” kids, or in daycare at some point.  Also happening in the early 1980s was the rise of what was (and still is) termed the “moral majority”—a political organization based heavily on Evangelical Christian values and rooted in the  

Republican party.

And then shit got weird. 

Suddenly, urban legends—those most accurate of societal fear barometers—began focusing on child abduction. 

And then the thing happened. 

The Thing.

In 1980 Michelle Smith (a Canadian) and her then therapist (now husband… and maybe still therapist… who the hell knows), Lawrence Padzer (also Canadian) wrote and published the book “Michelle Remembers”.  Nearly overnight it became an international best-seller and spawned a movie offer and an official Vatican investigation.  Yes, you read that right—AN OFFICIAL VATICAN INVESTIGATION.  Anyway.  The book centered on therapy sessions beginning in the late 1970s where Michelle began to recover memories (5). 

This is important.  Recovered memories play a huge part in this whole thing.  Recovered memories are the result of the aptly named “recovered memory therapy” (RMT) which refers to various therapeutic methods to recover memories that the patient does not currently remember due to dissociative issues, trauma, or general forgetfulness.  These methods can range from talk therapy, to dream interpretation, to therapeutic hypnotherapy.  Today, it is generally accepted that while this does exist, it is extremely rare and that the biggest issues surrounding RMT is ensuring that the memories are genuine and that they aren’t coached. Further, the American Psychiatric Association has conceded that it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between a recovered memory and “pseudomemory”—a false memory (6). 

So back to the Canadians.  Michelle’s recovered memories were about the Satanic cult her mother had inducted her into and in which she had been badly abused for the entirety of her childhood.  She described witnessing murders, being abused sexually and physically, and witnessing the mutilation of animals.  And shit was officially on.  (She also reported that Jesus and the Angel Gabriel had come to her to heal her physical wounds before her very eyes, but whatever….. SATAN!)

What ensued was nearly a decade of fear and paranoia that Satanic cults were lurking around every corner ready to abduct and abuse the children of unsuspecting adults and, further, that this had been happening for a long time and only now were people recovering the memories. 

But that’s not the scary part.  

The scary part is that this wasn’t just a weird thing that day time talk shows featured to scare bored housewives—though it was featured on every talk show (day time or otherwise) from Sally Jesse Raphael to Donahue to Larry King (seriously, check this shit out and make sure you hang on through the part where the lady discusses giving birth to a daughter at age 11 who was subsequently sacrificed to the devil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJC_wq7kxM&list=PL9EDF24619F46D81B&index=1 ).  Rather, this was something that resulted in arrests, trials and convictions.  Much like the

Salem chaos two-hundred years previous, children (often coached by adults) flung wild allegations at adults who were subsequently taken to trial, convicted of horrific crimes, and sentenced to the maximum penalties under the law. 

Don’t believe me?   Watch this shit….

Unsubstantiated and False Cases

*The McMartin Preschool Case:  In 1984 over a dozen children came forward to accuse seven preschool employees of sex abuse.  As the case became more well known the number of accusers increased to more than one hundred and the allegations expanded to include being flown to undisclosed locations to take part in Satanic rituals, watching the torture and death of animals, and various other terrifying sounding—yet highly implausible—crimes.  In March of that year the seven accused were arrested and jailed pending what would become the most expensive trial in American history at the time.  Eventually, less than a dozen children testified, two of the accused—Peggy McMartin Buckey and Ray Buckey—served MORE THAN FIVE YEARS IN JAIL while awaiting trial before being fully acquitted in 1990.  In 2005 one of the accusers, Kyle Sapp, formally apologized and acknowledged that he had not only knowingly lied, but had been coached in his testimony (7). 

*The Little Rascals Scandal:  This scandal has nothing to do with how adorable that movie was.  It instead refers to a day care center in North Carolina where the two co-owners were accused, in 1989, of nearly 250 charges—EACH—including child abuse, physical abuse, and torture.  Over 90 children came forward after being evaluated for signs of abuse to describe how the two owners, Robert Kelly and Betsy Kelly, had not only molested, raped, and tortured them, but had also forced them to watch while they not only killed and tortured small animals, but also killed other children as part of their Satanic rituals.  Betsy was kept in jail for two years awaiting trial before she accepted a plea bargain in exchange for a seven year prison sentence.  Which was probably a good idea considering her husband’s trial had ended in a conviction on nearly all counts and a sentence of… Are you ready???  TWELVE CONSECUTIVE LIFE SENTENCES.  Seriously on the word of fucking toddlers the dude was sentenced to not one, not three, not ten, but TWELVE.   TWELVE FUCKING LIFE SENTENCES.  To be served consecutively, which means that one does not begin until the one before it ends.  Meaning this man would never again walk free.  In 1995 the convictions were overturned and both defendants were finally set free (8). 

But that’s not even the scariest case the hysteria spawned.  Brace yourselves….

*Oak Hill SRA Trial: In 1991 a three year old girl told her parents that she was spanked at the daycare facility she attended.  After the child was taken to a psychologist the allegations expanded to include rape.  Other parents were encouraged to talk to their children and look for signs of abuse and soon Fran and Dan Keller were accused and arrested on allegations that they had sexually and physically abused multiple children while running the Oak Hill Daycare center in Austin, Texas.  The accusations included dismembering children, molestation, rape, torture, taking children to Mexico to be abused as part of their Satanic cult, forcing children to exhume bodies from a local cemetery, and throwing children into a pool of sharks.  No word was given on how the owners of an in-home child care facility got access to said pool of sharks.  The accusers ranged in age from as young as three years old, to as old as eight.  A year later, following a short six day trial that relied heavily on memories recovered in children through the help of therapists associated with the “Believe the Children” campaign (started by accusers in the McMartin Trial, see above), both Fran and Dan Keller were convicted and sentenced to 48 years in prison.  Each.   In 2013, after each defendant had served TWENTY-ONE YEARS IN PRISON, a key witness recanted, and the new District Attorney agreed that they had been denied a fair trial, both Fran (now 63) and Dan (now 72) were released to their families (9). 

In all of the above cases adults were arrested and investigated on the word of children.   In some cases these people were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms based on the modern equivalent of the “spectral” evidence that was so central to the Witch Trials we’ve all been forced to read about in any given English Lit class.  Not only were individual lives ruined, but untold millions  of dollars were spent on investigating charges as amazingly outlandish as “kids were thrown into a pool of sharks" (the McMartin trial alone cost over $15 million to investigate).

Actual page from "Don't make me go back, mommy"

The nation itself was in the grips of a mass hysteria that we tend to only attribute to older, less enlightened times.  In 1989 a children’s picture book entitled “Don’t make me go back, Mommy” was released as a way to explain SRA to children.  It is important to note that this children’s book was not meant to explain the hysteria, it was meant to teach children how to identify and talk about Satanic Ritual Abuse (10).  No one was really left untouched, not even that most untouchable of American institutions—Oprah.  Yes, even Oprah was sucked in—in the late 1980s she ran a series of shows that featured victims of SRA (11).  Sally Jesse Raphael did the same, as did Geraldo, Donahue, the aforementioned Larry King, and the list goes on.  CNN (established in 1982) provided twenty-four hour coverage of each trial.  Unsolved Mysteries featured no less than four deaths potentially attributed to SRA.   Televangelists, eager to attach themselves to the one thing scarier than televangelists themselves, prayed continuously and accepted copious donations that would somehow drive Satan from the United States and our daycare facilities.  And countless newspapers ran scathing headlines sure to terrify any parent.

And there’s one case left to discuss here.  That of Frank Fuster. 

In 1984 Frank Fuster and his wife Ileana were accused of what by now has become the usual story—while caring for other people’s children in their home, each allegedly raped and molested multiple children as part of ritualized Satanic activities.  Eventually, over 20 children would report against the Fusters and the case would be largely built on this evidence.  In the interest of full disclosure, Frank had been previously convicted of fondling a minor and his wife, Ileana, confessed to the abuse.  Ileana then served three years in prison and was deported to Honduras where, in 1994, she recanted her confession.  Regardless, Frank Fuster remains in prison as of the time of this writing, serving out the 165 year prison term he was sentenced to (12). 

Now, I’m not jumping to defend Frank Fuster, only to point out that, again on the word of toddlers, a guy was sentenced to 165 years in prison.  According to many still involved (yes, in 2015) in untangling the ridiculous web of accusations, charges, and convictions that stemmed from the Satanic Panic, the Fuster case remains as the last remnant of a truly terrifying time—that time when we as a nation allowed people to be convicted of hideous charges based on circumstantial, and highly suspect, evidence. 

Now it was initially my intention to discuss true cases that existed during the Satanic Panic—those cases where self-proclaimed “Satanists” actually did bad things to people in the name of the Dark Lord. 

I couldn’t find any. 

But I found one that was kinda sorta close:

*The Florida Vampire Killings (13):  In 1996 Rod Ferrell and an accomplice broke into the house of a female friend and bludgeoned her parents to death with a crowbar by way of assisting in her running away.  Rod had convinced about five followers that he was, in actuality, a 500 year old vampire named Vesago and it is often cited that his accomplice(s) went along with the crime (and put up with his shit) because they were part of a vampire cult headed by Rod/Vesago.  So, why is this only kinda-sorta a Satanic Panic thing?  Well, the end of the Satanic Panic is usually cited as the mid-1990s and this occurred in 1996.  Also, it wasn’t a Satan thing, it was a vampire thing (which is pretty similar to me, but if you ask any Satanist or self-proclaimed Vampire, it’s completely different and trying to persuade them that they’re wrong will only get you to a place where you have both Satanists and Vampires pissed at you.  Just trust me here…. Sigh… Research….).   Also, this wasn’t sex abuse which is actually important.  While murder did factor into many of the cases that typified the Satanic Panic era, the era itself revolved around sex abuse, specifically, the sexual abuse of children.  Thus, this story doesn’t fit the criteria of the Satanic Panic.  But it would be irresponsible not to mention it.   

So, there you have it.  Satanic Panic.  Definitely not a shitty punk band, yet still scary as hell.  The Panic itself died out in the late 1990s, however, some things remain and there are still people sitting in prisons as a result of the panic. 

Let’s not do this again. 

References:

1.  Check out the YouTube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc0iP_VGrI4

2.  Virginia Commonwealth University.  Cults That Never Were: The Satanic Ritual Abuse Scare. Retrieved from: http://www.people.vcu.edu/~dbromley/undergraduate/spiritualCommunity/SatanicCults.html

3.  Official Church of Satan website.  Churchofsatan.com

4.  Temple of Set official website.  Xeper.org

5.  The London Mail.  9.30.1990. Michelle Remembers: The Debunking of a Myth.  Retrieved from: https://xeper.org/pub/pub_wh_michelle.html

6.  American Psychological Association.  Questions and Answers About Memories of Childhood Abuse.  Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/topics/trauma/memories.aspx

7.   Linder, Douglas.  2003.  The McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial. University of Missourti-Kansas City School of Law.  Retrieved from: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcmartin/mcmartin.html

       Nathan, D. 2005. I’m Sorry.  Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: http://articles.latimes.com/2005/oct/30/magazine/tm-mcmartin44

8.  PBS.  1997.  Innocence Lost. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/innocence/etc/sum.html

9.  McRobbie, L.R. 2014.  The Real Victims of Satanic Ritual Abuse. Retrieved from: slate.com/articles

10.  You can still find it on Amazon!  http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Back-Mommy-Childhood/dp/0880703679

11.  Gotta love YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh2yCle-LhY

12.  PBS.  A Summary of the Frank Fuster “Country Walk” Case. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fuster/frank/summary.html

13.  Dellert, Christine. 2006. Was cleared in her parents’ 1996 murder in Eustis.  Now married and living out of state, she reflects on a tragic time. Orlando Sentinel.  Retrieved from: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2006-12-17/news/WENDORF17_1_ferrell-vampire-eustis-high