Message #14 board "P_Metaphysical (Mag Articles)"
Date : 22-Jan-93 15:58
From : Simon Novali
To : All
Subj : Lanning (11 of 11)
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
-- 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.
