copied with permission
S.M.A.R.T.
(Stop Mind control And Ritual abuse Today)
P. O Box 1295, Easthampton, MA 01027-1295 USA
E-mail: SMARTNEWS@aol.com
Home page: https://ritualabuse.us/
Issue 184 – September 2025
The purpose of this newsletter is to help stop secretive organizations and groups from abusing others and to help those who allege they have been abused by such organizations and groups. This newsletter is not a substitute for other ways of recovering from ritual abuse. Readers should use caution while reading this newsletter. If necessary, make sure other support systems are available during and after reading this newsletter.
Important:
The resources mentioned in this newsletter are for educational value
only. Reading the books cited may or may not help your recovery process,
so use caution when reading any book or contacting any resource
mentioned in this newsletter. Some may have a religious or other agenda
that may be separate from your own recovery process. Others may have
valuable information on secretive organizations, but have triggers or be
somewhat sympathetic to those organizations. Unless explicitly stated
otherwise, the views expressed in this newsletter constitute expressions
of opinion, and readers are cautioned to form their own opinions and
draw their own conclusions by consulting a variety of sources, including
this newsletter. Resources listed, quoted and individual articles, etc.
and their writers do not necessarily support all or any of the views
mentioned in this newsletter. Also, the views, facts and opinions
mentioned in this newsletter are solely the opinions of the authors and
are not necessarily the opinions of this newsletter or its editor.
Copyright 2025 – All rights reserved. No reproduction of any material
without written permission from the editor and individual authors.
Information in this issue includes:
– SMART is celebrating our 30th anniversary.
– Thirty Years of Publishing and Advocacy – Neil Brick
– The Mind Controlled Brain – Wendy Hoffman
– Videos, PowerPoints and transcripts from our 2025 conference
– Self’s Stony Soil, by Wendy Hoffman
– “Masonic Themes and Trauma in the Novels of William Golding (1911–1993)” Lynn Brunet (PhD)
– Recovery from Extreme Abuse – Randy Noblitt
– Thirty Years of Publishing and Advocacy – Neil Brick
– Organised ritual abuse and its wider context: Degradation, deception
and disavowal A research review and analysis by Dr Elly Hanson
Commissioned by the Hydrant Programme and NAPAC (National Association
for People Abused in Childhood) July 2025
– Hydrant Programme – Ritualistic abuse
– Investigating and responding to ritualistic abuse, including
witchcraft and spirit possession Operational Briefing Commissioned by
the Hydrant Programme and NAPAC July 2025
– Houses of the Holy: A Nightmare Web of Hate, Crime, Corruption and
Child Abuse — a shocking true story of organized ritual abuse and
systemic betrayal.
– How a Christian college ministry glorified a sex offender and enabled
him to keep abusing students Daniel Savala, Chi Alpha members
– ‘He’s helping himself to your kids by the help of Chi Alpha
leadership’: Student organization put Aggies, minors in contact with sex
offender
– Former youth pastor arrested after allegedly sexually abusing at least
6 teens The alleged abuse at the pastor’s home and at an Assemblies of
God church in Baltimore County, Maryland, authorities said.
– Daughter of NJ police chief accuses him, others of ‘ritualistic’ abuse, years of sexual assault: court docs
– Knesset panel meeting reveals shocking testimonies of ritual abuse on
minors Multiple women came forward to testify about the sexual abuse
they suffered as victims of organized ritual abuse when they were minors
during a Sunday Knesset committee meeting.
– Survivors testify: MKs participated in sadistic sexual ‘rituals’
involving minors ‘Doctors, educators, police officers, and past and
present members of the Knesset were involved in these abuses,’ survivor
says.
SMART is celebrating our 30th anniversary this year. This is our 183rd newsletter. Our first issue (online https://ritualabuse.us/2008/10/issue-1-march-1995/ discussed the book Ritual Abuse What it is, Why it Happens and How to Help by Margaret Smith. It covered a thesis on Masonic Ritual Abuse called “Ritual Abuse, its Effects and the Process of Recovery Using Self Help Methods and Resources, and Focusing on the Spiritual Aspect of Damage and Recover.” Over the years, SMART expanded its scope to cover institutionalized abuse, clergy abuse, government mind control and sex trafficking issues. SMART has had yearly conferences since 1997. SMART has become one of the largest ritual abuse resource information providers on the Internet.
Thirty Years of Publishing and Advocacy – Neil Brick
Neil Brick discussed how and why he created the SMART Newsletter. He
talked about how the newsletter and the field of ritual abuse have
changed over the years. He discussed the importance of advocacy and
public education. Ideas for the future growth of the field were
discussed.
Neil Brick is a survivor of ritualistic abuse. His work continues to
educate the public about child abuse, trauma and ritualistic abuse
crimes. His child abuse and ritualistic abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. https://ritualabuse.us has been published for over 30 years. http://neilbrick.com
Parts of this presentation may be triggering and may describe abuse or violence. All accusations are alleged. https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2025-conference/thirty-years-of-publishing-and-advocacy-neil-brick/
The Mind Controlled Brain – Wendy Hoffman
Please note: This article may be triggering for survivors.
The mind controlled brain is the core of satanic ritual abuse. If you
are a victim of mind control, your brain has been stolen. Satanic cults
thrive on controlling other people’s brains. But you can get your brain
back. This theft doesn’t have to be permanent. You can leave the life
your perpetrators imposed on you….
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2025-conference/the-mind-controlled-brain-wendy-hoffman/
The 2025 Online Annual Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Information – If you are interested in getting on a mailing list, please write: smartnews@aol.com Internet conference information: https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2025-conference/
Videos, PowerPoints and transcripts from our 2025 conference https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2025-conference/2025-conference-video-presentations-and-powerpoints/
Please use caution while reading this information. It may be triggering for survivors.
Self’s Stony Soil, by Wendy Hoffman
A novella, written in free style poetry and flash fiction, Self’s Stony Soil
is about the sexual trafficking of children. They are packed tight into
cages, taken by airplanes to other countries, abused by politicians,
the wealthy, royalty, and known people in the world. It tells the story
of a child’s only friend, a doll, and how much she needed it. A
trafficked person had amnesia until late in life. Remembering began the
healing of deep scars. She began to find her true self. This is her
story and unfortunately the story of many more. It is also about memory
and healing from these horrendous acts. Wendy will talk about how the
book came about and read from some of its passages.
Wendy Hoffman has published four memoirs: The Enslaved Queen, White Witch in a Black Robe, A Brain of My Own and After Amnesia. The Enslaved Queen has been translated and published in Germany. Her book of poetry, Forceps, was also published along with a book of essays, From the Trenches, co-authored with Dr. Alison Miller. Her second poetry book Belonging was nominated for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. The Theft,
a novel, is forthcoming. She does consultations for therapists working
in the field of dissociative disorders and presentations
internationally.
“Masonic Themes and Trauma in the Novels of William Golding (1911–1993)” Lynn Brunet (PhD)
The English novelist William Golding is the author of Lord of the Flies
(1954), a book that was studied by school children around the
English-speaking world; his oeuvre of a further twelve novels cemented
his reputation to the extent that he was awarded a Nobel Prize in
Literature in 1983. But he was also an author who struggled with
terrifying but inexplicable childhood experiences, so much so that they
haunted his dreams right throughout his life. This talk will look at one
of his novels, The Spire (1964), set in the Middle Ages with
the building of a new spire on a cathedral, but where the foundations
are completely inadequate to support it. Through a
stream-of-consciousness technique, the novel shows the gradual
psychological disintegration of the protagonist, the Dean whose lofty
project this is. This talk will demonstrate that Golding has encoded
into this novel multiple features of the Masonic Royal Arch rite. He
also appears to be making connections between the Royal Arch rite and
his own traumatic childhood memories. From this perspective The Spire
can be seen to be a critique of the Church of England’s close connection
with Freemasonry. His disdain for this link is summed up with his
description of The Spire as “this great finger sticking up”.
Lynn Brunet (PhD) is an Australian art historian, artist and survivor of
Masonic ritual abuse. Her research examines the coupling of trauma and
ritual in modern and contemporary Western art and literature. In
particular, it traces the connection between Masonic and other fraternal
initiation rites and complex trauma in the work of so-called ‘tortured’
artists and writers.
Recovery from Extreme Abuse – Randy Noblitt
This presentation is about some of the ways people recover from extreme
abuse. Some survivors seek therapy, but others do not. Psychotherapy is
expensive and not always available to all abuse survivors. Graduate
schools and other training programs typically do not teach their
students about extreme abuse.
My best teachers were the survivors who were seeking psychological
treatment from me, and who were willing and able to communicate what
they had been through, and how these traumas had happened. I have also
learned from survivors who have not participated in trauma-informed
therapy, and how some have made progress using other resources. Many
have told their stories in books, other publications, or though internet
postings.
Randy Noblitt is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Alliant
International University in Los Angeles and a licensed psychologist in
Texas and New Mexico.
Thirty Years of Publishing and Advocacy – Neil Brick
Neil Brick will discuss how and why he created the SMART Newsletter. He
will talk about how the newsletter and the field of ritual abuse have
changed over the years. He will discuss the importance of advocacy and
public education. Ideas for the future growth of the field will be
discussed.
Neil Brick is a survivor of ritualistic abuse. His work continues to
educate the public about child abuse, trauma and ritualistic abuse
crimes. His child abuse and ritualistic abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. https://ritualabuse.us has been published for over 30 years. http://neilbrick.com
Organised ritual abuse and its wider context: Degradation, deception and disavowal A research review and analysis by Dr Elly Hanson Commissioned by the Hydrant Programme and NAPAC (National Association for People Abused in Childhood) July 2025…. describes abuse
The organised sexual, physical and psychological abuse of children (and often adults) by a group of individuals who use rituals as a form of prolonged and repeated torture (often alongside other forms of abuse) with the aim of controlling, silencing and terrorising their victims. As part of this control, perpetrators train children into a supernatural belief system, which they may or may not believe themselves. Ritualised abuse typically involves family members (for example, parents and their associates abusing their children) and starts when children are young (the UK National Police Chiefs’ Council definition of ritualistic abuse, used within the Complex and Organised Child Abuse Database – COCAD)….
In the UK, there have been at least 14 cases in which people have
been convicted of sexually abusing children and their use of ritualistic
practices in this process was widely acknowledged, either within the
criminal or family courts.6 Nine of these involved more than one
perpetrator. In addition, there have been convictions for sexual abuse
similar in nature to organised ritualistic abuse, involving multiple
family members sadistically sexually abusing and/or torturing their
children, as well as forcing them to have sex with others, over the
course of their childhoods.7….
In 1982, couple Malcolm and Susan Smith together with Susan’s sister and
husband, Albert and Carole Hickman, were convicted for crimes relating
to the sexual abuse of four children ranging in age from one to 15 years
old. Malcolm Smith convinced the children he was ‘Lucifer’, and this
was said to be ‘largely a subterfuge by which children and young girls
were ensnared’ (The Guardian, 1982). …
In 1998, the daughter and stepson of a convicted sex offender, Michael Horgan, came forward to speak out in detail about the abuse that he had subjected them to, in protest at him being released after having served only half of his ten-year sentence (McMullan & Revell Walton, 1999). He had been prosecuted alongside five others in 1992 for the organised, ritualistic abuse of several children, the youngest being two, yet media attention appears to have been scant at that time….
In 1992, an extensive investigation was launched in Wales following a ten-year-old boy’s disclosures to his foster carers of sexual abuse of himself and other children by his father and other adults. Other children corroborated his allegations, leading to a trial of 12 individuals, of whom six were convicted. The jury heard that children aged from two years old upwards were sexually abused in isolated barns and sheds in Pembrokeshire and subjected to a terrifying mix of violence, threat and ritualistic practices….
In 1998, eight people based in Devon were convicted for a total of
100 years for sexual abuse offences spanning 35 years. This abuse was
intergenerational, involving grandparents who had taught their children
to abuse their own, and sadistic, involving razor blades, pick-axe
handles, pitch forks and knitting needles (the latter used in abortions)
(Lakeman, 1998; Lindy Brown, interview). These abusers not only raped
the children (aged 3-15 years old), but also invited friends and
neighbours to do so….
In 2023, eight individuals in Glasgow were found guilty of crimes of
child sexual abuse and/or other forms of child maltreatment, and in
early 2025 seven of them were given life sentences for this abuse.9 Five
of these individuals were found guilty of attempting to murder a young
girl…. Four children in total had been subjected to sexual abuse, gang
rapes and violence by the group. Two individuals were also found guilty
of child neglect….
3. The nature of research into organised ritualistic (and related) abuse. It was in the late 1980s that research into organised ritualistic child abuse first really began, and over the course of the 1990s a sizeable number of studies were published, primarily case series of therapists’ patients who reported this abuse (for example, Coleman, 1994; Fraser, 1990; Young et al., 1991), but also including analyses of state and voluntary sector organised abuse cases (including those involving ritual), as well as professional surveys and an analysis of helpline data (for example, Gallagher et al., 1996; Scott, 1993). Since then, it appears studies have been less frequent, although three research projects have substantially deepened insight and understanding. In 2001, Sara Scott published a seminal study involving twelve in-depth life history interviews with survivors of ritual abuse, following a wider survey completed by 36 (Scott, 2001). This was followed in the early 2010s by Michael Salter’s research of similar methodology with 21 survivors of organised child abuse (16 of whom reported ritualistic elements) and professionals supporting this client group (Salter, 2011, 2012, 2013a, 2013b, 2017, 2019).10 And then more recently, in Germany a research group has explored the issue through survivor and professional surveys alongside analysis of submissions on this topic to the German Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual abuse, all-in-all resulting in eight academic papers (for example, Schröder et al., 2018, Schröder, Nick et al., 2020). In addition, case series, surveys and other analyses continue to be published, contributing to the broader body of knowledge….
4. Lives navigating ‘everyday’ abuse and cruelty Most survivors of organised ritualistic abuse report adult family members as their primary perpetrators (Salter, 2012; Schröder et al., 2018; Schröder, Behrendt et al., 2020a; Scott, 2001). Looking across life histories recounted by this group of survivors, we see both striking diversity and commonality. On the one hand, there is wide socioeconomic variance – some describe families that are highly affluent and well-connected, whilst others those that are struggling with poverty and debt. In addition, some are highly regimented and project an image of ‘the perfect family’ whilst in others there is chaos and mental health difficulty visible to the outside eye. However, across practically all the recorded accounts of survivors of intrafamilial organised ritual abuse, there are common themes of dominance and control (usually exerted most forcefully by fathers); neglect of children’s emotional (and often physical) needs; and routine cruelty towards them – especially towards girls (Scott, 2001; Salter, 2013a). Essentially these survivors report navigating childhoods in which those tasked to care for and protect them were instead colossal and constant sources of danger.12 The abuse this group of survivors recount includes routine sexual abuse from family members that typically started in their early years, often involved sadistic elements, and interweaved with other forms of abuse as well as neglect….
5. The dimensions of commercial and imaged child sexual abuse Alongside this ‘everyday cruelty’ many victims of organised and ritual abuse are also bought and sold to be raped (pimped and trafficked) and have their sexual abuse photographed and filmed (to make child sexual abuse material: CSAM). In their survey study of 165 self-reported survivors of organised abuse (88% of whose included ritual),16 Schröder, Nick et al. (2020) found that 91% reported commercial sexual exploitation, and 90% reported that their abuse involved CSAM production. And in their parallel survey of healthcare professionals who support survivors of organised/ritual abuse, even higher proportions reported that their clients’ abuse included these elements (96% and 94% respectively). Complementing these findings, a study that instead focussed on CSAM survivors found that many reported this CSAM abuse to be driven by organised groups, often involving family members (Canadian Centre for Child Protection: C3P, 2017). Of the 150 international survivors of CSAM they surveyed, 74 (49%) reported organised abuse. This group experienced sexual abuse that on average started younger and lasted longer than the other respondents – 82% reported that their abuse started when they were aged four or younger, and 51% reported it lasting 16 or more years, followed by 22% reporting it lasting 11-15 years. In 82% of these cases, the primary abuser was reported to be a family member, most typically the victim’s father (38%) followed by both parents (19%). Nearly a third (31%) of this group reported abuse by a person in a position of authority (of these, 35% mentioned a doctor or more; 30% teacher(s); 26% police; and 26% clergy), and 51% respondents mentioned at least one adult woman as an offender….
Historically, research into CSAM has often neglected the organised and intrafamilial dimensions to much of its production (Itzin, 1997; Salter & Wong, 2023), and similarly efforts to tackle children being bought and sold for rape (also known as child sex trafficking) have not always paid due regard to how much of this is driven by family members and paedophilic abuse groups (Itzin, 2001; Pacheo et al., 2023; Raphael, 2020). As noted above, this commercial sexual exploitation (pimping and the rapes that follow) is often reported by ritual abuse survivors as another horrific part of their maltreatment. Survivors describe how these elements of their abuse involving filming and/or being sold to others often involve humiliation, shame, cruelty and sadism, and the profound degradation of being so objectified and commodified (for example, C3P, 2017; Pacheo et al., 2023; Raphael, 2020; Salter & Woodlock, submitted)….
6. The nature and dynamics of organised ritual abuse When organised abuse involves rituals and supernatural narratives, what do these comprise? How are the rituals consistent with victims’ wider experience of abuse, and how are they set apart? What offender-victim dynamics do they involve and what offender strategies are at play? This section explores these and related questions, with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of the nature of this abuse and the psychology at play. Rituals in the broadest sense are practices that follow a convention or habit. Often however, the term ‘ritual’ is used to more specifically mean what are termed in sociology ‘special collective ritual events’ (Knottnerus, 2014). These rituals (from here on in, how ‘ritual’ is used in this report) involve multiple participants engaging in activities with a distinctive form, at set times and separated from everyday social practices (Knotterus, 2014).
Examples of such rituals include religious ceremonies, political rallies, and commemorations of important historical events. They are central to the human experience and occur across history and cultures. These ritual events, entwined with the narratives that support them, have particular power and so are frequently designed and used by those with nefarious intentions to control others (see for example, Delano & Knottnerus’ (2018) analysis of the Khmer Rouge’s use of ritual). And this appears to be a primary purpose of the rituals and related ideologies of ritual abuse, alongside their related use as justification and inspiration for extreme cruelty.17
Survivors of ritual abuse generally report this abuse as being less frequent to the other forms of abuse they were experiencing – taking place as organised ceremonies; often on specific calendar dates; involving an immediate circle of abusers or larger numbers (essentially paedophile rings coming together); and comprising a series of extreme tortures and abuses that are given ideological or religious justification (for example, a family pet being ‘sacrificed’) (Behrendt et al., 2020; Salter, 2013a; Sarson & MacDonald, 2008; Schröder, Nick, et al., 2020; Scott, 2001)….
6.1 Ideologies and themes
Schröder, Nick, et al. (2020) surveyed 165 adults reporting a history of
organised abuse, 88% of whom named the involvement of ideology / ritual
within it.18 Of this group, 72% reported Satanic ideology, 35% racist
or fascist, and 30% ‘religious or free church’ (this category included
Christianity, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Freemasonry). Smaller numbers
reported Germanic, witchcraft, military or Kaballah narratives.19 These
proportions were roughly similar to those reported in a parallel survey
of therapists who worked with survivors of ritual abuse, who were asked
what ritual ideologies their clients disclosed (Schröder et al., 2020).
In Scott’s (2001) smaller survey of 36 survivors in Britain, 20
indicated that their abuse involved Satanic ideology; five named
Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, Fundamentalist Christian, Masonic,
neo-Nazi or Wicca (one naming two of these); and the remaining 11 were
split between not knowing and being unwilling or too fearful to answer.
The ideologies perpetrators draw upon will in large part reflect their
cultural backdrop – mainstream beliefs and practices provide material
that is co-opted and twisted into an abusive belief system, working to
add credibility and power to it….
6.3 Acts of abuse and torture
What behavioural shape does this cruelty typically take? What abusive
practices do these supernatural ideologies enable and these rituals
comprise? In the survey of 165 survivors in Germany conducted by
Schröder et al. (2020) discussed above, 96% reported that they were
subjected to near-death experiences and 93% reported isolation with
sensory deprivation. Similar percentages of the 174 surveyed therapists
reported hearing disclosures of these forms of abuse in their work with
survivors (97% and 95% respectively). And such experiences are also
recounted by survivors in interviews (Scott, 2001; Salter, 2013a), heard
in some court cases (for example see Lakeman, 1998; Miller, 1995;
Scott, 2023), and documented in clinical case and helpline reports
(Sarson & Macdonald, 2008; Scott, 1993). In their review of 37
patients with dissociative disorders who reported ritual abuse, Young et
al. (1991) found that all of them reported near death experiences as
part of the abuse, and 27 disclosed that they had been buried alive in
coffins or graves….
10.3 Practices of disbelief and silence
The discourse of disbelief is inseparable from the practices that follow
from it – practices that interactively work to keep it in place in a
vicious spiral (Nelson, 2016). Such ‘practices of disbelief’ include
hostility towards people who persist in calling attention to the issue,
and their derogation and ridicule. To do so therefore carries
significant reputational risk and so is understandably necessarily
avoided by many. Relatedly, there is the practice of societal silence –
around organised child abuse generally and ritual abuse in particular –
from the media, from academia, and relevant societal institutions
(notwithstanding notable exceptions) (Salter & Woodlock, 2023).
Despite survivors continuing to disclose to helplines, therapists and
trusted researchers, their experiences are rarely heard publicly. As
noted, after the mid-1990s, research publications have declined. In
tandem, the rigorous in-depth research that has been published has
largely been ignored (Scott, personal communication). In the UK,
statutory multi-agency child protection guidance went from including a
definition of organised child abuse in 1991 to removing all mention of
it by 2013 (Davies, 2014, 2016). The latest edition (HM Government,
2023) continues with this omission, and while it gives a definition of
‘extra-familial harm’ which includes the example of ‘modern slavery and
trafficking’, it provides no definition of intrafamilial harm, let alone
the organised and ritual abuse that this can include.57 This may
encourage, or at least colludes with, statutory services applying higher
thresholds to the investigation of this abuse (also see section below
on disclosure and professional responses).
The principle seemed to be ‘let’s try not to investigate’; I thought ‘how much evidence do you want before we do?’ – it was far beyond what we’d usually need
Former Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll on how allegations of ritualized abuse were approached within a UK police force
Organised intrafamilial and/or ritual abuse cases that do reach the
courts are afforded scant media coverage, whilst in parallel the
rehearsed story of ‘satanic panic’ is routinely used as a cautionary
tale by commentators drawing attention to more modern (alleged)
hysterias (for example, see Barnes, 2024; Joyce, 2021). Podcasts,
documentaries and online sources such as Wikipedia58 continue to
highlight and challenge conspiracy fictions, whilst giving no airtime to
established cases and perpetuating the false dichotomy that ritual
abuse must either be the product of conspiracy fantasies or non-existent
(for example, Mostrous et al., 2022)….
Conspiracy theorising and logical errors in the discourse of disbelief
Claims that organised ritual abuse does not exist in the Western world
must somehow deal with the evidence that it does. Several strategies are
employed in this endeavour including:
• Simple omission – claiming that evidence which does exist does not (for example, convictions for ritual abuse)
• Applying a false dichotomy, as discussed above (‘either it’s a
conspiracy theory or it doesn’t exist’ – rather than logically
acknowledging that real cases and conspiracy theories can co-exist). In
this endeavour, the views of those who take it seriously are
misrepresented or caricatured
• Dismissing all recovered memories as false memories, despite the psychological and forensic evidence to the contrary59
• Holding a suspicion of Dissociative Identity Disorder and its origins in trauma, despite all the evidence to the contrary
• Asserting widespread malpractice by social workers. They are said to
manipulate children into ritual abuse allegations because they see it
everywhere, having been ‘contaminated’ by workshops and self-professed
experts. A large scale review of referrals to police and social services
(involving information from a diversity of sources) could find no
evidence of such practice (Gallagher, 2001).
• Similarly, presupposing that huge numbers of therapists are applying
methods that lead their clients to develop whole libraries of false
memories (this is usually required to explain the numbers of people
disclosing ritual abuse in anonymous surveys, on helplines, and the
like). Not only do we lack substantive evidence that this is even
possible (Brewin & Andrews, 2016),60 it would entail multiple
therapists risking their reputation and livelihood (by going against
professional codes of conduct) for no obvious gain….
https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/assets/NPCC-Organised-ritual-abuse-and-its-wider-context-Degradation-deception-and-disavowal-July-2025-v2.pdf
Hydrant Programme – Ritualistic abuse
Today (Thursday 3 July) the National Police Chiefs’ Council in
partnership with the National Association for People Abused in Childhood
(NAPAC) is publishing Organised ritual abuse and its wider context:
Degradation, deception and disavowal Ritualistic abuse – A research
review and analysis by Dr Elly Hanson. The report unpacks the nature of
organised ritual abuse, its motives and dynamics, the harm it causes and
the barriers survivors face in speaking out. It also looks at the
discourse of disbelief and conspiracy fictions which have kept it hidden
for so long.
Humans have the potential to treat one another with extreme cruelty and
this report deals with behaviour of this worst kind. To identify and
surface the nature of ritual abuse and the abuses surrounding it, Dr
Hanson draws extensively on primary research – this then providing the
basis for a set of recommendations that lay out a whole system approach
necessary to respond rightfully to this most horrific of crimes.
https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/our-work/ritualistic-abuse
Investigating and responding to ritualistic abuse, including witchcraft and spirit possession Operational Briefing Commissioned by the Hydrant Programme and NAPAC July 2025 https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/assets/NPCC-Operational-Briefing-Investigating-and-responding-to-ritualistic-abuse-including-witchcraft-and-spirt-possession-July-2025-v4.pdf
Houses of the Holy: A Nightmare Web of Hate, Crime, Corruption and Child Abuse — a shocking true story of organized ritual abuse and systemic betrayal. When former special operations pilot Mark Harris sought to protect his children, he uncovered a hidden network of religious extremists, white supremacists, corrupt Freemasons, and government collusion. His efforts cost him everything. Supported by extensive documents and firsthand testimony, this explosive memoir reveals deep-rooted corruption in courts, churches, law enforcement, and politics. Houses of the Holy is both a survivor’s account and an urgent call for truth, justice, and accountability. https://books.google.com/books/about/Houses_of_the_Holy.html?id=im1JEQAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description
How a Christian college ministry glorified a sex offender and enabled him to keep abusing students
Daniel Savala urged generations of Chi Alpha members to get naked in
his Houston sauna. Why did Assemblies of God pastors keep bringing
teenagers to his home? A revered missionary challenged his young
followers to live for Jesus; it was all part of his plot to get them
undressed, he confessed later.
Article describes abuse
Aug. 4, 2025 By Mike Hixenbaugh HOUSTON — Daniel Savala leans back in a
cloth armchair, raises his right hand and swears before God that what
he’s about to say is the truth. Looking into the camera, the Pentecostal
missionary speaks in slow, measured sentences, describing how, for
decades, he gained the trust of college students who came to his
ivy-draped bungalow in search of spiritual guidance. Using scripture, he
convinced them they could open up about uncomfortable topics like
pornography and masturbation. Then he would strike, touching their
penises and pressuring them to touch his, all under the guise of
bringing them closer to Jesus. “I knew that I was wrong,” Savala says in
the video, filmed by a lawyer in 2023. “But I did it anyway.” …. In the
two years since Savala recorded that confession at his home in Houston,
lawyers, activists and whistleblowers have worked to untangle how a
convicted sex offender with an eighth-grade education managed to
convince scores of pastors and young Christians to put their faith in
him — and why church officials repeatedly failed to stop him.
In police reports, lawsuits, online forums and interviews with NBC
News, dozens of boys and young men have described how Savala spun his
own twisted version of the Gospel. He taught them that seeing each other
naked in his backyard sauna was essential to becoming true brothers in
Christ — or, as he put it, “nudity is unity.” For those struggling with
lustful temptation, he offered a counterintuitive solution: group
masturbation, sometimes while listening to Christian worship music. He
pushed some of his disciples further; in lawsuits, signed statements and
criminal filings, at least 10 have accused him of sexually abusing
them.
“He would say things like, ‘Hey, you know it’s OK to masturbate,’” said
Joseph Cleveland, who says Savala groomed and sexually abused him for a
decade beginning in 2004, when he was 15. “‘Because we’re brothers, we
can do it together.’”
The pastors who shepherded hundreds of high school and college
students to Savala’s home were part of Chi Alpha, a Christian ministry
that evangelizes on university campuses. Students seek out Chi Alpha to
connect with God and each other, through small Bible studies and
rollicking worship services — and, for more than 30 years, through
Savala. Generations of Chi Alpha leaders hailed him as a spiritual
savant who could answer life’s deepest mysteries.
The boys and young men who devoted themselves to Savala called him “Papa
Daniel,” “God’s vagabond” and “the holiest man alive.” At his
direction, teams of students built the backyard sauna that became the
site of his alleged crimes. So wrapped up in his teachings, his
followers often didn’t see themselves as victims until years or decades
later. At least one of the college students Savala sexually exploited
later became a pastor and brought his own boys to learn from his master
inside his darkened sauna. The reward for that minister’s devotion: Like
Savala, he now faces the possibility of life in prison.
Savala’s ministry collapsed in early 2023 when several men came forward,
some anonymously, to accuse him and some of his protégés of sexual
abuse and exploitation, triggering a wave of criminal charges, lawsuits
and pastor dismissals. Savala was arrested, and at least six Chi Alpha
pastors, leaders and students who studied under him were charged with
sexual abuse…. It wasn’t the first time officials with the Assemblies of
God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination, have been accused of
mishandling sex abuse allegations. In May, an NBC News investigation
revealed how church leaders dismissed repeated abuse allegations against
a charismatic children’s pastor named Joe Campbell in the 1980s,
allowing him to remain in ministry for years as more alleged victims
came forward….
Chi Alpha had a clear opportunity to break ties with Savala in 2012,
when authorities in Alaska charged him with sexually abusing boys as a
youth minister in the 1990s. Instead, ministry leaders in Texas rallied
to his defense, sending a staff member to Alaska to pay his bail and —
after Savala pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor — organizing a
letter-writing campaign to ask the judge for leniency. After a stint in
jail, Savala went right back to hosting Chi Alpha students at his home
in Houston….
In the decade that followed, at least half a dozen people contacted
Assemblies of God officials in Texas and at the denomination’s national
headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, alerting them that Chi Alpha was
exposing students to a sex offender. These whistleblowers wrote emails,
made phone calls and spoke up at internal meetings. Again and again,
they were dismissed or ignored, NBC News found….
In a statement to NBC News, the Assemblies of God said it directed Chi
Alpha leaders to stay away from Savala after receiving a report about
him in 2018. Five years later, after receiving “reports of sexual
abuse,” the denomination said it “took appropriate actions,” leading to
the dismissal of more than a half dozen ministers with ties to Savala…..
In the summer of 2012, Eli Stewart, one of the top Chi Alpha pastors
at Sam Houston State, wrote an urgent plea to ministry leaders and
alumni: “Our dear friend Daniel needs you.”
Savala had recently been indicted in Alaska after he was accused of
sexually abusing several boys at a church in the 1990s. Two of the boys,
now men, had filed police reports, and Savala traveled there to face
charges. Chi Alpha leaders had already dispatched a junior staff member
to Alaska to pay Savala’s $10,000 bail and hired a lawyer to defend him.
Now Stewart was calling for collective action.
Describing the allegations as “an absolute attack of the devil,” Stewart
wrote that Savala was preparing to take a plea deal — not to reduce his
sentence, but to protect the families of the men falsely accusing him.
He called on his Chi Alpha brothers to write letters to the judge: “If
you have children and would be comfortable having Daniel stay in your
home or having your children at Daniel’s house, the judge needs to know
that.”….
Savala’s victims have come to view his 2012 conviction as a line of
demarcation. With his abuses out in the open, it was the moment when
ministry leaders should have broken free from Savala’s influence, but
instead chose the opposite path….
Over the next decade, the pattern repeated again and again. People came
to church leaders with concerns about Savala, and those warnings went
unheeded.
Ron Bloomingkemper Jr. had quit Chi Alpha at Sam Houston State in the late 1990s after he says Savala asked him to masturbate together. He was outraged years later, in 2013, when he learned of Savala’s child sex abuse conviction and continued connection to the ministry. Bloomingkemper said he called Tim Barker, a pastor and the superintendent of the Assemblies of God regional council that oversees the denomination in south Texas. Barker seemed concerned, Bloomingkemper said, and he promised to investigate. After a few months, Bloomingkemper called again. “I said, ‘I’m following up about the Daniel thing.’ And he goes, ‘I completely forgot about that.’” That’s when Bloomingkemper said he realized: “They’re not going to do anything about this.” Frustrated, he said he dropped the issue and tried to move on…. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/thomas-pinkerton-youth-pastor-arrested-sex-abuse-baltimore-maryland-rcna224311
‘He’s helping himself to your kids by the help of Chi Alpha leadership’: Student organization put Aggies, minors in contact with sex offender Nicholas Gutteridge May 1, 2023 https://thebatt.com/news/chi-alpha-organization-took-students-to-church-with-links-to-a-sex-offender-article_793cdc2e-e876-11ed-907b-d33f4dd8cad8-html/
Former youth pastor arrested after allegedly sexually abusing at least 6 teens
The alleged abuse occurred from 2006 to 2010 at the pastor’s home and at
an Assemblies of God church in Baltimore County, Maryland, authorities
said.
Aug. 11, 2025 By Elizabeth Chuck and Mike Hixenbaugh
This article is part of “Pastors and Prey,” a series investigating sex
abuse allegations in the Assemblies of God. Thomas Pinkerton Jr. used to
tell children in his youth group in Maryland that it was normal for a
pastor to kiss boys on the lips, because that’s how Jesus greeted his
disciples, according to an arrest warrant made public last week. Kissing
was just the beginning, several men from Pinkerton’s former youth group
told police.
Pinkerton, 52, a youth minister known as Pastor Tommy, is being held
without bond following accusations that he sexually abused six teens
from 2006 to 2010 while working at Central Christian Church, an
Assemblies of God church in Baltimore County. He was extradited from his
home state of Georgia to Maryland last Wednesday to face 24 felony and
misdemeanor counts in Baltimore County. His attorney, Justin Hollimon,
said he pleaded not guilty.
An arrest warrant said the alleged abuse included inappropriate touching
and kissing of six teenagers in Maryland, who ranged in age from 13 to
19. The warrant said the alleged abuse happened at the church and at
Pinkerton’s former home in Maryland. A seventh man reported abuse by
Pinkerton in Georgia, according to the warrant, and that report was
referred to authorities there, officials in Baltimore County said.
Pinkerton, who has worked as a traveling evangelist in recent years, was
“completely shocked” by the charges, his attorney said Monday….
Detectives believe there may be more victims and have asked anyone with
information to come forward…. Pinkerton’s arrest comes as the Assemblies
of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination, with nearly 3
million members across 13,000 churches in the United States, is
grappling with a string of child sex abuse allegations.
As part of an ongoing investigation into the denomination’s handling of abuse claims, NBC News published an investigation last week based on interviews, emails, court filings and police reports that examined how an Assemblies of God college ministry guided hundreds of students to the home of Daniel Savala, a convicted sex offender lauded by some as “the holiest man alive.” Days later, Assemblies of God leaders addressed the issue of sex abuse in the denomination during a biennial gathering in Orlando, defending their handling of the Savala case while also pledging to make changes to prevent similar abuses in the future. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/thomas-pinkerton-youth-pastor-arrested-sex-abuse-baltimore-maryland-rcna224311
Daughter of NJ police chief accuses him, others of ‘ritualistic’ abuse, years of sexual assault: court docs By Priscilla DeGregory and Alex Oliveira July 10, 2025
The daughter of a New Jersey police chief claims he repeatedly raped her
for more than a decade as part of a “ritualistic” cult allegedly
involving their neighbors, according to a shocking lawsuit she filed.
Courtney Tamagny’s allegations against Leonia Police Chief Scott
Tamagny, his neighbor Kevin Slevin and others have starkly divided the
small Bergen County borough. Both men say that the claims were
thoroughly investigated as high as the federal government and determined
to be unfounded. Slevin has even countersued Courtney for defamation.
Courtney Tamagny, 20, alleges her father, Leonia Police Chief Scott
Tamagny, sexually assaulted her and her sisters for years in a lawsuit.
But Courtney has taken her claims public — appearing on podcasts and
social media to describe the alleged sex abuse in detail, and sparking a
Change.org petition to suspend her top cop dad.
The 20-year-old claims her father and Slevin heinously abused her in
their home, alongside “ritualistic” worshippers in the woods near their
house — and that the father allegedly threatened to murder her mother if
she ever spoke up, according to court docs.
“[Courtney was brought] into the woods in Rockland County New York, and
there was what appeared to be other middle-aged men present with masks
on their faces,” the lawsuit claimed. “She recalls there being fire and
animals being burned, and they would chant as if ritualistic.”
“She was sexually assaulted in those woods by defendant Slevin,
defendant father, and some of the other men present,” it further
claimed. The alleged abuse began in 2009 when Courtney was around 4
years old, with the lawsuit claiming it continued until 2020, when she
was 15. Both of Courtney’s sisters were also allegedly subjected to
abuse, according to the lawsuit, with their father allegedly using drugs
to sedate them before assaulting them when their mother was either away
or asleep with earplugs in a downstairs bedroom. The mother, Jeanne
Tamagny, joined Courtney as a plaintiff on the lawsuit and is in the
process of divorcing her husband….
Courtney claimed on the podcast that the neighborhood cultists had “tunnels” they would use to covertly operate their rituals, which allegedly included “taking kids’ blood,” “drum circles” and “burnings” that would last all night. “Burnings of animals, animal skins, humans as well,” she said on the show, claiming that much of the alleged violence was intended to terrify victims into silence. “What scared us the most is ‘OK, we’re doing this to these people we’ve trafficked, why wouldn’t we do this to you? Because we just did that to this young girl or this young boy,’” she continued to relay on the episode, adding that the alleged cult was part of a national cabal of satanists engaged in child trafficking. Other alleged cult activities she outlined on the podcast included sick “games” that always ended with kids being assaulted. …
Courtney also claimed on the podcast that her father used his
position in local law enforcement to trap her in a world of abuse, and
that anytime she reached out for help, she was rebuffed. In addition to
suing her father and Slevin, Courtney also named the Bergen County
Prosecutor’s Office, the State of New Jersey, various state child
protective services and others. Chief Tamagny and Slevin have both
vehemently denied the claims….
Slevin’s countersuit accuses Courtney of defamation, claiming her
allegations have left him “exposed to public ridicule and held in
disrepute,” and “extreme embarrassment and humiliation and severe mental
distress.” Chief Tamagny’s attorney shared similar sentiments, calling
the allegations “completely false and defamatory.”….
https://nypost.com/2025/07/10/us-news/daughter-of-nj-police-chief-accuses-him-others-of-ritualistic-abuse-years-of-sexual-assault-court-docs/
Knesset panel meeting reveals shocking testimonies of ritual abuse on minors
Multiple women came forward to testify about the sexual abuse they
suffered as victims of organized ritual abuse when they were minors
during a Sunday Knesset committee meeting. By KESHET NEEV JULY 28, 2025
The following contains sensitive material, reader discretion is advised.
Several women came forward to testify about the sexual abuse they
suffered as victims of organized ritual abuse when they were minors
during a Sunday Knesset committee meeting.
The meeting examined and questioned the response of state authorities to
such incidents of ritual abuse. MKs criticized the attending police and
government representatives for not taking enough action to investigate
the matter…
The Sunday meeting came in the wake of the investigation opened on
Friday against MK Hanoch Milwidsky (Likud) into sexual misconduct and
obstruction of justice. Accusations against him include rape and witness
tampering….
“I was a small child, five years old, and suffered four years of
unbearable abuse,” she began. “Other children were present – I hear
their screams in my head. They said I was born broken and needed fixing,
or the world would suffer. They tied me in every possible way, used
whips and electric shockers, and raped in bizarre ways,” she continued.
Another survivor, under the pseudonym “A,” described the abuse she
endured between the ages of four and 20. At the age of 15, she said that
she “was tied to a torture bed in Tel Aviv basements. They held a
snake, inserted it into me, and I saw it covered in blood.”
“They slaughtered it into a vessel, mixed its blood with mine, and drank
it. They said I was now a sacred gate. I believe one of my parents was
involved. They picked me up from school. In my case, the police were
empathetic, but the prosecutor closed the case, saying that it wasted
too much time,” she explained. A. also criticized the Education Ministry
for not doing enough to help her. “The Education Ministry could have
helped. In seventh grade, they realized something was wrong,” she said.
An additional testimony by victim Yael Ariel described how she was
forced to harm other victims. “We underwent training and paid a very
heavy price for leaving. For years, we lived broken and lost. There were
boys who were also harmed. I’m certain some victims committed suicide.
Others are hospitalized in psychiatric wards,” she said. “There was the
rape of children. Some children witnessed murders. I have around 60
testimonies from all sectors of society. I had approached the police,”
Ariel said….
The representatives said that there have been ongoing investigations
conducted by the police’s Lahav 105 unit, in charge of investigating
crimes against minors. “It’s clear that Israel does not treat cults as
it should,” Tamano-Shata said.
“You need to bring legislation on cults. It must come from the Justice
Ministry, and it keeps falling through,” the committee chairwoman told
the representatives.
Hearing the testimonies of the victims, Tamano-Shata called on
Israel Police to “move themselves.” She also explained to the attending
state representatives the importance of going back at least a decade to
break down the sexual offense reports from each year while investigating
to find ritual abuse.
During the meeting, Lazimi also underscored to the representatives the
importance of looking into the ritual aspect of sexual abuse crimes….
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-862528
Survivors testify: MKs participated in sadistic sexual ‘rituals’ involving minors
‘Doctors, educators, police officers, and past and present members of the Knesset were involved in these abuses,’ survivor says. By ELIAV BREUER
JUNE 3, 2025 17:06 (Warning: The following contains sensitive material,
reader discretion is advised.) Several women on Tuesday testified in the
Knesset about sexual abuse they suffered as minors as part of religious
ritual ceremonies. The testimonies came during a joint meeting of the
Knesset’s Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, chaired
by MK Pnina Tameno-Shete (National Unity), and the Special Committee on
Young Israelis, chaired by MK Naama Lazimi (The Democrats)…. Yael Ariel,
one of the abuse survivors, shared: “I experienced ritual abuse over
many years until my late teens and was forced to harm other children. I
chose to speak out and make my voice heard. I received threats after
revealing my story. From age five to age 20, I was harmed in these
ceremonies.”
According to Ariel, she received testimonies from several women who
claimed that doctors, educators, police officers, and past and present
members of the Knesset were involved in these abuses. “I filed a
complaint with the police that was closed after a few months, and I know
of other cases that were closed. Speaking out today in the Knesset is a
historic moment,” she said.
Another survivor, Yael Shitrit, testified: “You have no idea what ritual
abuse is. The human brain cannot comprehend it. You can’t imagine what
it means to program a three-year-old girl through rape and sadism so
they can do whatever they want without anyone knowing.
“Their trafficking of me happened all over the country. They moved
me from ceremony to ceremony. Naked men stood in a circle. My therapist,
her husband, and her son harmed me, and there were dozens of other
girls and boys who harmed me.
“There were ceremonies and rituals meant to make me forget,” Shitrit
continued. “The police have known about this for a year, but they don’t
have the tools to deal with it. The people who will fall are very, very
senior figures. These people run communities and government agencies.
They threaten us. I have children I need to protect. Something needs to
be set up that can deal with this….
“Several years ago, I received descriptions of sadistic abuse of
children,” Goldberg said. “The accounts sounded absurd. [But] the
testimonies kept coming and would not let up. They described gang rape
by men, and sometimes by women. The abuse was filmed, and drugs were
used. There were ritual practices and symbolism.
“I presented the police with written testimonies from five women. To
this day, no one has contacted me. Since the report, additional
testimonies have surfaced,” Goldberg said. A representative of the
Israel Police, Ch.-Supt. Anat Yakir, said that there was a national unit
reviewing all cases and that the complaints were “a top priority in the
intelligence division.”….
One testified that a cousin trafficked her beginning at age 11. “At 14,
he took me to sadistic clubs. I endured torture and starvation at the
hands of well-known and prominent individuals. I suffered harm in
endless ways.
“There were public events, and there were internal ceremonies where I
was tied to a tall post with handcuffs. Around me, there were other
handcuffed victims with rituals of drinking menstrual blood and the
slaughter of cats and other animals. They told me no one would believe
me if I spoke out.”
She continued that she filed a complaint with the police five years ago.
“The prosecution closed the case due to lack of evidence, so I
appealed, and it was accepted. I came to testify while on pregnancy bed
rest, but the case was closed again due to lack of evidence. “They said I
was imagining things. I presented a recorded testimony from someone who
admitted to harming me, but she was never summoned for questioning….
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-856407
‘Bottom of darkness’: Children raped in ritual ceremonies expose the horrors
Multiple women recount organized abuse including ritual ceremonies
conducted by people they knew, even close family members – after months
of interviews with victims, their families, treatment professionals and
experts in Israel and abroad, a disturbing picture emerges with
descriptions difficult to read. by Noam Barkan 04-23-2025
“I suffered painful sodomy, truly felt like I was splitting in two. It’s
a terrible experience, but there’s something about these things,
perhaps in their strangeness, that’s like… maybe the hardest component
is that if you tell people about these things, they’ll think you’re
crazy. I remember many types of severe sexual abuse, but there’s
something about these ritualistic abuses that makes them the bottom of
darkness.”
In direct words and with a clear voice, Emunah (pseudonym, like all
victims’ names in this article) describes the severe abuse she allegedly
experienced in her childhood. Organized sexual abuse that included
“ceremonies” with supposed religious significance. Horrifying ceremonies
in which religious people, some from her own family, sacrificed her as
an offering for spiritual transcendence or redemption.
Emunah is not alone. More than ten women between the ages of 20-45
with whom we spoke describe a severe phenomenon raising serious concern
that in Israel, like many countries worldwide, organized sexual abuse of
children is occurring right under everyone’s nose. “Perhaps the world
knows that rape occurs, that incest exists, but this the world doesn’t
know,” Emunah said. “These acts have been kept secret for years, perhaps
because of their insanity… it was always very, very strange. As if
there was an internal logic, but it was so crazy… very strange things
happen there, normalized in a ritualistic and orderly manner. There’s a
specific time, there’s when to say this verse and when to say that
verse, there’s an order as if things are supposed to be done this way…”
Each woman we interviewed during our investigation has a different life
story. They come from different areas of the country, from north to
south. Each is at a different place in her life. Some are students,
others work and manage careers and family lives, and there are also
young women barely surviving, clinging to life by their fingernails.
These women did not know each other previously, grew up in different communities, and come from different sectors and religious streams. Yet the ritual abuse stories they describe are similar in ways that compel us to listen and not turn a blind eye. Some were harmed in early childhood educational settings or in girls’ schools, others in their family homes, yeshivas or synagogues. In this article, we present only a very small sample from many hours of interviews and information, and some descriptions in this article are difficult to read. The great fear expressed by everyone who spoke with us is that organized sexual abuse of children continues even today…. Https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/04/23/bottom-of-darkness-children-raped-in-ritual-ceremonies-expose-the-horrors/
