janetrosenzweig.com
Dr. Janet Rosenzweig
Oct. 22, 2016
“At APSAC’s June Colloquium, Paul J. Stern gave a presentation that clearly acknowledged your organization’s role in fostering the ‘satanic ritual abuse’ day-care panic of the 1980s and early ’90s.
“Mr. Stern, a prosecutor and longtime APSAC official, was only illuminating from the inside a reality long recognized among virtually all respected professionals and academics.
“I am writing today to request that the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children formally renounce its advocacy of the ‘satanic ritual abuse’ myth and apologize to its victims. The ‘misguided ideas’ cited by Mr. Stern not only supported wrongful prosecutions and incarcerations, but also profoundly misled children, parents and the public.
“The reputation of APSAC will remain tainted as long as it fails to make amends for this seminal part of its history. If the International Association of Chiefs of Police can apologize for ‘the actions of the past and the role that our profession has played in society’s historical mistreatment of communities of color,’ then surely APSAC can similarly mitigate the damages caused by its own actions.”
– From a letter I sent to Dr. Janet Rosenzweig, executive director, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
