Feb. 22, 2013

“The argument for an organized network of satanists is virtually irrefutable. Ritual abuse survivors’ reports contain many fantastic elements. Rather than regard the implausible  features of these accounts as grounds for skepticism, however, proponents of the satanic conspiracy theory insist that it is precisely these elements than mean the stories must be true. No one, they insist, would or could make up such bizarre, macabre stories.

“Sometimes proponents retreat to the position that satanists commit bizarre activities precisely so that victims will not be believed when they recount their experiences. This latter tack illustrates the problem of infinite regress (a sequence of reasoning or justification that can never come to an end).

“When confronted with the difficulty of concealing so many homicides, proponents explain that satanists dispose of bodies… in double-decker graves. Challenges to this argument lead to assertions that bodies are burned. The observation that bodies cannot be burned in ordinary fires leads to the assertion that they are cremated. The problems of gaining access to crematoriums lead to contentions that satanists use special portable crematoriums. Further protestation may yield the argument that child-witnesses may be mistaken about some deaths because satanists sometimes use life-like dolls rather than live humans to terrorize children into silence.

“The continual retreat from the lack of confirming evidence shifts the burden of proof from those seeking to demonstrate a satanist network to those questioning such assertions.”

– From “The Satanism Scare,” edited by David G. Bromley (1991)

May 20, 2013

The day-care ritual-abuse era generated a wealth of words, many of which have been cited here. Aside from the epic “Innocence Lost,” however, little video evidence remains.

Just made available on our Bookshelf of Case Materials is the hour-long 1999 CBS documentary “Child Sex Scandals: Modern Day Witch-Hunt?”

Part of correspondent Mike Wallace’s “20th Century” series, it includes basic coverage of the McMartin, LIttle Rascals and Kelly Michaels day-care prosecutions, as well as the closely-akin “recovered memory” movement.

Especially salient are the 30-second comments from key combatants in the opinion arena such as Maggie Bruck, Roland Summit, Elizabeth Loftus, and Mark Pendergrast.

May 17, 2018

In recent years the Little Rascals Day Care case, probably the most significant event in Edenton in the 20th century, seems to have been a taboo subject in the local Chowan Herald and in the Daily Advance of Elizabeth City. I’m grateful that the Herald has published my letter to the editor in this week’s edition:

“In the 1990s the town of Edenton was torn apart by the Little Rascals Day Care case, in which seven local people were accused of ‘satanic ritual abuse’ of dozens of children. The case attracted reporters from the New York Times and Washington Post and received eight hours of documentary coverage on PBS’s “Frontline” series. Co-owner Bob Kelly’s trial was the longest and costliest in North Carolina history. After Kelly served six years in prison and cook Dawn Wilson three, their convictions were overturned.

“The Duke University Law School Library recently opened to researchers an exhibit and archive on the Little Rascals case, including the transcript of Bob Kelly’s trial and numerous other documents. ‘The case is one example of the preoccupation with perceived abuse taking place at daycares and preschools in the 1980s and 1990s,’ Duke wrote in its announcement. ‘Often, these cases also involved allegations of Satanism or devil worship. Like the Little Rascals case, most of these daycare abuse accusations turned out to be false.

“Today no reputable psychologist, social scientist or legal expert will argue otherwise. From Wikipedia to the National Registry of Exonerations, the defendants in cases such as Little Rascals are recognized as innocent victims of a bizarre ‘moral panic’ that bore striking similarities to the Salem witch hunts 300 years earlier.

“During the years-long prosecution of the Edenton Seven, townspeople were divided family vs. family, friends vs. friends. Today the former Little Rascals Day Care Center is being converted into housing – is that what would happen if townspeople believed it was the site of mass molestation of their children? So where now does Edenton stand?”

Sept. 9, 2013

“According to court records, one of the state-recommended therapists, Judith Abbott, showed a five-year-old girl drawings of satanic symbols (a horned mask, inverted crosses and a peace symbol described on the drawing as the ‘Cross of Nero’) in an effort to uncover instances of devil worship. ‘Mr. Bob’ was wearing one of those, the child said, according to a note Abbott wrote on the drawing of the mask.

“The same child had begun her therapy complaining that Mr. Bob gave hard spankings; after biweekly sessions for six months she was ‘remembering,’ according to Abbott’s typed therapy notes, ‘oral penetration by a penis, vaginal penetration by a brown felt-tipped pen and witnessing the murder of human babies.’

“Abbott explains the delay in eliciting this material by saying that the children had been terrified into silence. ‘When you break down the child, you own their spirit.’ she says. ‘It’s like Helter Skelter, Charles Manson.’ ”

– From “The Demons of Edenton” by Lisa Scheer and Edward Cone in Elle magazine (November 1993) Download article here

A proven effective way to “break down the child”: Subject her to six months of Abbott’s biweekly “therapy” sessions.