Sunday, April 5, 2026

Information on Neil Brick

 

Information on Neil Brick

In 1995,  Neil Brick founded the SMART newsletter.  In 1996, SMART was on the Internet and in 1998 SMART started having ritual abuse conferences.

There are now 187 newsletters online at http://ritualabuse.us/newsletter/

with many conferences with online transcripts and ordering information http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/

Thirty Years of Publishing and Advocacy – Neil Brick

Thirty Years of Publishing and Advocacy – Neil Brick

Ritualistic Abuse Survivors Difficulties Obtaining Services – Neil Brick

Ritual Abuse, Sex Trafficking and Mind Control Presentation – Transcript and Video – Neil Brick https://ritualabuse.us/mindcontrol/ritual-abuse-sex-trafficking-and-mind-control/

The Effects of Social Movements on Survivor Support Systems and Survivor Recovery – Neil Brick

Neil Brick – The Effects of Social Movements on Survivor Support Systems and Survivor Recovery – PowerPoint

Neil Brick will speak about the history of ritualistic abuse and the effects of social movements on survivors. He will present historical information regarding the literature of clinicians and researchers. He will describe the effects of social and historical movements on survivor support systems and survivor recovery.

The Modern False Memory Syndrome Movement in the United States – Neil Brick – SMART Conference 2022

The Modern False Memory Syndrome Movement in the United States – Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/the-modern-false-memory-syndrome-movement-in-the-united-states-neil-brick/

The 2021 Online Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference   August 14 – 15, 2021  Speakers include: Dr. Laurie Matthew OBE, Neil Brick, Wendy Hoffman and Ellen Lacter.  Internet conference information:  http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/

Mind Control and How to Stop it – Neil Brick


Mind Control and How to Stop it – Neil Brick (Transcript of PowerPoint)
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2021-conference/mind-control-and-how-to-stop-it-neil-brick/

The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2021 Conference Presentations  https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2021-conference-presentations/

This year’s presenters: Neil Brick, Wendy Hoffman, Ellen Lacter, Randy Noblitt, Sarah Nelson, Elana Christensen, Eileen Aveni and Annika Lundin

 

Mind Control and How to Stop it Presenter: Neil Brick

Mind Control and How to Stop it – Neil Brick – PowerPoint This presentation explained how mind control and different suggestive techniques work in a variety of individual and public settings. These will include interpersonal relationships, abusive relationships, ritual abuse settings, social media, political manipulation and hypnosis. Ways to expose and prevent mind control will be discussed. Social views of mind control will be presented.

Conferences:
The 2020 Online Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference 

August 8 – 9, 2020 Internet conference information: http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/  

Speakers included: Dr. Laurie Matthew – OBE, Dr Sarah Nelson – Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee, Neil Brick, Kieran Watson (manager with Izzy’s Promise – Dundee, Scotland) and Dr. Randy Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt.

The 2020 Online Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference Video Presentations and PowerPoints https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2020-conference/2020-conference-video-presentations-and-powerpoints/

Presentation on Izzy’s Promise
Izzy’s Promise offers training and consultancy services; Conducts research into causes of ritual abuse and any ways of preventing or relieving the suffering caused by abuse. Presentation on Ritual Abuse Network Scotland (RANS)
RANS provides information and a safe place to talk for survivors of ritual abuse. https://www.rans.org.uk/

Rebuttals of “Satanic Panic” Theory and “False Memory Syndrome” https://ritualabuse.us/research/rebuttals-of-satanic-panic-theory-and-false-memory-syndrome/

The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2020 Online Conference
Regular Conference – Saturday and Sunday May 16 – 17, 2020
Clinician’s Conference – Friday May 15, 2020
https://survivorship.org/ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2020-conference
Speakers Included: Dr. Randy Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt, Dr. Karol Darsa, Neil Brick and Cristina Mardirossian, LMFT https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2020-conference-presentations/

Petition:  Stop Misinformation and Attacks on Survivors of Trauma and Their Helpers by The Satanic Temple’s Grey Faction https://www.change.org/p/trauma-survivors-and-their-helpers-stop-attacks-on-survivors-of-trauma-by-the-satanic-temple-s-grey-faction/ http://chng.it/6H6sfxqR

THE ORGANISED AND RITUALISED ABUSE OF CHILDREN: THE CURRENT INTERNATIONAL SITUATIONFebruary 26, 2020  Dundee, Scotland  https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/the-organised-and-ritualised-abuse-of-children-the-current-international-situation/ 

Misinformation Campaigns Against Survivors – Neil Brick https://neilbrick.com/articles/misinformation-campaigns-against-survivors-neil-brick/

Negative Social Movements
1) Nazism – The Third Reich 1920 – 1945
2) Modern American Right Wing Political Movement
3) The Satanic Temple – Grey Faction and Doug Mesner/Lucien Greaves (both aliases)

Recovered Memories and Dissociative Amnesia – Scientific Evidence and Accuracy Rates   There is scientific evidence in support of the phenomena of dissociation and recovered memory in Holocaust survivors. https://ritualabuse.us/research/recovered-memories-and-dissociative-amnesia-scientific-evidence-and-accuracy-rates/

The 2019 Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/
August 17 – 18, 2019
DoubleTree near Bradley International Airport  Windsor  Locks, CT

Speakers include: Alison Miller, Neil Brick and Daniel Roemer.
Excellent Child and Ritual Abuse Conference Last Weekend https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/excellent-child-and-ritual-abuse-conference-last-weekend-300903328.html Article about the conference. “Attendees report that it was an excellent conference, highly educational with books, literature, presentations and special performances on Saturday night.”

Possible Hate Groups – How Do They Effect Survivors and Their Resources  https://neilbrick.com/articles/possible-hate-groups-how-do-they-effect-survivors-and-their-resources/

A Survivor’s View of Recovery from Ritual Abuse by Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/a-survivors-view-of-recovery-from-ritual-abuse-by-neil-brick/

The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2019 Conference
https://survivorship.org/ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2019-conference/

Speakers included: Alison Miller, Randy Noblitt, Eileen Aveni and Neil Brick https://www.einpresswire.com/article/484335351/the-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2019-conference

Survivorship Conference May 2019 – Promotional Video https://youtu.be/e-BgRG1a300

A Survivor’s View of Recovery from Ritual Abuse by Neil Brick

Recovery from ritual abuse can take many years. Recovery may include working through memories, building functionality and developing more effective ways of interacting and integrating emotions. Every individual has different experiences that lead them through the recovery path. Neil Brick will discuss his long journey healing from severe abuse. This will include ways he has learned more about himself, ways he has learned to develop healthier interactions with others and ways he has helped others along the recovery path.

Neil Brick presented at: The 2018 Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference
August 18 – 19, 2018 in Connecticut https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/

His topic: Changes in Awareness of Severe Abuse and Child Abuse Crimes Over Twenty Five Years

The awareness of severe abuse and child abuse crimes has changed over the last 25 years. In the early 1990s, severe abuse survivors were often believed and supported. Then a backlash started and severe abuse survivors and their supporters were harassed and attacked. The child abuse survivor movement changed and adapted. Ten years ago, research began again to help expose severe abuse crimes. More recently, first in the UK and Australia and now in the United States, a variety of child abuse, severe abuse, sexual harassment and rape cases are bringing public awareness again to the mainstream media of severe abuse crimes. This presentation will discuss the changes of the last 25 years, with an emphasis on the more recent exposures of organized child abuse crimes and social systems that have been part of the cover up of these crimes. https://neilbrick.com/articles/neil-brick-conference-presentation-2018-changes-in-awareness-of-severe-abuse-and-child-abuse-crimes-over-twenty-five-years/

Changes in Awareness of Severe Abuse and Child Abuse Crimes Over Twenty Five Years Presenter: Neil Brick
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2018-conference/changes-in-awareness-of-severe-abuse-and-child-abuse-crimes-over-twenty-five-years/

Child and Ritual Abuse Conference Helps Educate Survivors and Their Helpers; Speakers included Dr. Randy Noblitt and Neil Brick
https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=227656

Neil Brick is a survivor of ritual abuse and mind control. His work continues to educate the public about child abuse, trauma and ritual abuse crimes. His child abuse and ritual abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. https://ritualabuse.us has been published for over 23 years. https://neilbrick.com

Articles by Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com
http://neilbrick.blogspot.com
https://ritualabuse.us/smart/neil-brick/
https://independent.academia.edu/neilbrick
https://plus.google.com/+stopritualabusetoday

https://twitter.com/neil_brick

Neil Brick has worked hard to build a research base for child abuse and ritual abuse survivors.  Neil Brick has worked to develop advocacy efforts to help survivors and their helpers.

There are online articles with inaccurate information about Neil Brick.  This web page responds to factual errors about Neil Brick and his work.

Those interested in contacting Neil for an interview may write smartnews@aol.com for more information.

Neil Brick has always been a strong advocate for people thinking for themselves. Neil Brick has encouraged people to use their critical thinking skills and fully research topics.

In one presentation, Neil Brick stated :

“Please use your own judgment and research everything as fully as possible. Don’t accept anything anyone says simply because they say it is true or claim to be an expert. Try to check it out for yourself.”

Several of Neil Brick’s articles (listed below) provide readers information on how to avoid being mind controlled and encourage readers to find out for themselves about topics from as many sources as possible.

Advocacy Alert

Petition to Stop Attacks Against Child Abuse and Ritual Abuse Survivors and Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/petition-to-stop-attacks-against-child-abuse-and-ritual-abuse-survivors-and-neil-brick/

Please sign at:
https://www.change.org/p/protect-child-abuse-survivors-petition-to-stop-attacks-against-child-abuse-and-ritual-abuse-survivors-and-neil-brick

Please sign this petition to show support for child abuse and ritual abuse survivors. One may use the check box below the signature area to keep your name confidential.  We are asking everyone to sign this petition and let others know about it. Let’s stop the attacks against child abuse survivors and their helpers.

Neil Brick’s conference presentation transcripts:
Neil Brick – Survivorship Conference 2017 – How to Avoid Being Mind Controlled at a Conference
https://youtu.be/GGoaYw3pEZs

Neil Brick – Survivorship Conference 2017 – Freedom from Mind Control
https://youtu.be/SxBO2HU4R_M


How to Avoid Being Mind Controlled at a Conference and Freedom from Mind Control – 2017 Presentation by Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/how-to-avoid-being-mind-controlled-at-a-conference-and-freedom-from-mind-control/

Topics include:
Neil Brick, Satanic Temple, Grey Faction, Doug Mesner, Lucien Greaves, mind control, propaganda, hypnosis, ritual abuse

The Urban Legends of Those Attacking Ritual Abuse Theories and the False Logic of False Memory Proponents and Their Occultist Supporters – Presentation at the 2016 Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference
Second half of the article discusses the Grey Faction, a part of the Satanic Temple and Lucien Greaves/Doug Mesner.   https://neilbrick.com/articles/the-urban-legends-of-those-attacking-ritual-abuse-theories/

How to Avoid Being Mind Controlled at a Conference  https://neilbrick.com/articles/how-to-avoid-being-mind-controlled-at-a-conference/

The Battle to Stop Ritual Abuse by Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/the-battle-to-stop-ritual-abuse/

Doing the right thing and getting stronger at the same time, a survivor’s path to recovery and helping others by Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/doing-the-right-thing-and-getting-stronger-at-the-same-time-a-survivors-path-to-recovery-and-helping-others/

Recent Child Abuse Crimes and Efforts to Unite Survivors by Neil Brick  https://neilbrick.com/articles/recent-child-abuse-crimes-and-efforts-to-unite-survivors/

Always Getting Stronger: Giving Survivors a Voice in the World by Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/always-getting-stronger-giving-survivors-a-voice-in-the-world/

The Myth of Panic – Exposing Theories Used to Cover Up Ritual Abuse Crimes by Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/the-myth-of-panic-%E2%80%93-exposing-theories-used-to-cover-up-ritual-abuse-crimes/

Fighting the Spin : The Truth about Child Abuse Cases by Neil Brick https://neilbrick.com/articles/fighting-the-spin-the-truth-about-child-abuse-cases/

The Move from Blame the Victim to Blame the Helper by Neil Brick http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2010-conference/the-move-from-blame-the-victim-to-blame-the-helper/

Ritual Abuse, the trenches of the stopping child abuse movement by Neil Brick https://neilbrick.com/articles/ritual-abuse-the-trenches-of-the-stopping-child-abuse-movement/

Debating The Non-Believers – Getting equal time for Survivors’ Views by Neil Brick  https://neilbrick.com/articles/debating-the-non-believers-getting-equal-time-for-survivors-views/

Stopping Ritual Abuse – What can we do today by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/conf07/stopping-ritual-abuse-what-can-we-do-today/

The 12-step Healing Process and Survivor Advocacy by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/conf06/the-12-step-healing-process-and-survivor-advocacy/

How healing from ritual abuse and mind control works by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/conf05/how-healing-from-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-works/

How can we advocate for survivors of ritual abuse by example and advocacy? by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/conf04/how-can-we-advocate-for-survivors-of-ritual-abuse-by-example-and-advocacy/

Stopping Mind Control and Healing by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/conf03/stopping-mind-control-and-healing/

My healing and helping others by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/conf2002/my-healing-and-helping-others/

My Most Recent Memories and My Personal Growth by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/conf2001/my-most-recent-memories-and-my-personal-growth/

Trigger management and conference safety presentation by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/conf1999/trigger-management-and-conference-safety-presentation/

Other papers, articles and transcripts written by Neil Brick

Evolving as a Movement – Taking a Step Forward
https://neilbrick.com/articles/evolving-as-a-movement-taking-a-step-forward/

How Childhood Sexual Abuse Affects Interpersonal Relationships by Neil Brick  http://ritualabuse.us/research/sexual-abuse/how-childhood-sexual-abuse-affects-interpersonal-relationships/

The Etymological Antecedents of and Scientific Evidence for the Existence of Dissociative Identity Disorder by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/research/did/the-etymological-antecedents-of-and-scientific-evidence-for-the-existence-of-dissociative-identity-disorder/

The Neurological Basis for the Theory of Recovered Memory by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/the-neurological-basis-for-the-theory-of-recovered-memory/

The Alleged Ethical Violations of Elizabeth Loftus in the Case of Jane Doe by Neil Brick http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/the-alleged-ethical-violations-of-elizabeth-loftus-in-the-case-of-jane-doe/

Propaganda & Mind Control by Neil Brick http://ritualabuse.us/mindcontrol/

Ritual Abuse and Its Political Implications by Neil Brick http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/ritual-abuse-and-its-political-implications/

Solidarity in the fight against Ritual Abuse and Torture by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/solidarity-in-the-fight-against-ritual-abuse-and-torture/

Advocacy and Saving Lives by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/advocacy-and-saving-lives/

Ritual Abuse/Mind Control Presentation by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/ritual-abusemind-control-presentation/

Data proving the existence of recovered memory, ritual abuse, mk-ultra and information on the backlash by Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/research/data-proving-the-existence-of-recovered-memory-ritual-abuse-mk-ultra-and-information-on-the-backlash/

How Cues and Programming Work in Mind Control and Propaganda by Neil Brick http://ritualabuse.us/mindcontrol/how-cues-and-programming-work-in-mind-control-and-propaganda/


Video on youtube –
Proof ritual abuse and Satanic ritual abuse exists by Neil Brick http://www.youtube.com/user/stopritualabuse

Information on harassment of Neil Brick and SMART

Neil Brick’s response to attacks and harassment by false memory proponents.


Grey Faction, Satanic Temple and Lucien Greaves Fact Sheet:
For almost a decade Douglas Misicko using several aliases (including Douglas Mesner and Lucien Greaves) has harassed groups helping child abuse, rape and trauma survivors. He has also harassed groups providing research in support of child abuse, rape and trauma survivors.
In 2013, he and others created a group called the Satanic Temple. One part of this group is called the Grey Faction. The Grey Faction states they “invade” conferences. These conferences  are provided to help and educate child abuse, rape and trauma survivors and their helpers.
https://neilbrick.com/articles/grey-faction-satanic-temple-and-lucien-greaves-fact-sheet/


Exposing Doug Mesner/Lucien Greaves – co-founder of the Satanic Temple and Grey Faction presenter
https://neilbrick.com/articles/exposing-doug-mesnerlucien-greaves-co-founder-of-the-satanic-temple-and-grey-faction-presenter/

Reply to the Grey Faction’s Petition to Revoke the License of Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/reply-to-the-grey-factions-petition-to-revoke-the-license-of-neil-brick/

Alison Miller’s reply to Evan Anderson, Grey Faction Director of The Satanic Temple (TST)’s Grey Faction

“The reason I discontinued my membership in the College of Psychologists has nothing to do with the Grey Faction’s harassing complaint about my writings and online videos. I left the College because I am 78 years old. I retired two years ago.”  – Alison Miller

“That is why I resigned, not because I was about to be found guilty of promoting unscientific conspiracy theories. Anderson has posted his complaint and the College’s response, distorting the story by omitting the College’s letter to me and my response to it. As for not being allowed to call myself a “psychologist,” that is the situation for every retired psychologist. It is similar for other health professions, and it does not indicate that the work I did was inferior or that I was found guilty of unethical behavior.”  – Alison Miller
https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/alison-millers-reply-to-evan-anderson-grey-faction-director-of-the-satanic-temple-tsts-grey-faction/


Reply to the Satanic Temple’s Grey Faction online guest post
https://neilbrick.com/articles/reply-to-the-satanic-temples-grey-faction-online-guest-post/

Rebuttal to the Grey Faction Lucien Greaves presentation about SMART and additional Grey Faction information about Neil Brick
https://neilbrick.com/articles/rebuttal-to-the-grey-faction-lucien-greaves-presentation-about-smart-and-additional-grey-faction-information-about-neil-brick/

Douglas Misicko alias Douglas Mesner update 7 – Radio Interview Rebuttal
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update-7-radio-interview-rebuttal/

Douglas Misicko alias Douglas Mesner update 6 – Examiner.com article
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update-6-examiner-com-article/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update-5/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update-4/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update-3/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update-2/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner-update/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/douglas-misicko-alias-douglas-mesner/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/harassment-by-false-memory-proponents/
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/rebuttal-to-the-report-from-the-smart-2009-conference/

#Neil_Brick #NeilBrick #NeilBrick.com Neil Brick @NeilBrick @Neil_Brick

Friday, March 27, 2026

Empowering Change: The 15th Annual Survivorship Child Abuse Conference

 Empowering Change: The 15th Annual Survivorship Child Abuse Conference

 For over three decades, Survivorship has provided vital support and community for survivors of extreme abuse, including ritual abuse and trafficking, offering specialized resources and education. https://survivorship.org

 Survivorship is proud to announce the Survivorship Trafficking and Extreme Abuse Online Conference 2026, running May 15–17, featuring specialized presentations for both survivors and clinicians. https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-trafficking-and-extreme-abuse-online-conference-2026/

 

Presentations:  

 Ritual Abuse as Mind Control - Wendy Hoffman  Wendy has published four memoirs, three books of poetry and a co-authored book of essays. She does consultations for therapists working in the field of dissociative disorders and presentations on mind control internationally. https://ritualabuse.us/smart/wendy-hoffman/

 

Approaches to Becoming Conscious of Dissociated Identities and Psychological Manipulation of Dissociated Identities in Systematic Abuse - Ellen Lacter, Ph.D. Ellen is a clinical psychologist and specializes in the treatment of dissociative disorders and trauma from ritualistic abuse, torture-based mind control and child trafficking. https://endritualabuse.org

 Remembering Wholeness: Trauma-Informed Writing in Support of Voice, Safety, and Self-Trust - deJoly LaBrier  deJoly is a Life and Writing Coach, public speaker, and survivor of extreme abuse whose work focuses on trauma-informed writing practices for women impacted by trafficking, ritual abuse, and complex trauma.

 Traces of Western Practices of Ritual Abuse in Mary Daly’s
Gyn/Ecology and Other Texts - Lynn Brunet  Lynn is an Australian art historian whose research examines the coupling of trauma and ritual in modern and contemporary western art and literature.
https://independent.academia.edu/LynnBrunet1

 Unraveling the Tangled Mind: Psychotherapy with Survivors of Mind Control - Faige Flakser, LCSW Faige is a trauma therapist, consultant, and educator with a clinical focus on trauma, dissociation, Organized and Extreme Abuse (OEA), including mind control and coercive systems.

 

An Introduction to Neurofeedback for Trauma - Joshua Moore MA, LMHC, BCN Joshua is a licensed mental health counselor who uses talk therapy, EMDR, QEEG brain mapping, family systems work, and neurofeedback treatments.

 Intergenerational Occult Families, and One Father’s Fight for His Abducted Daughter - Iain Bryson Iain has published an evidence-based, documentary style memoir of his daughter’s abduction. He continues to fight for his daughter, and for other survivors of ritual abuse.

 Discussion Groups: “How Ethics and History Effect Present Practice,” challenges in therapy, self-help ideas and support groups.

 Ritual Abuse Evidence https://survivorship.org/ritual-abuse-evidence/

 Child Abuse Wiki - Ritual Abuse 

http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years

 

Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years

An investigation by The New York Times found extensive evidence that the United Farm Workers co-founder groomed and sexually abused girls who worked in the movement.  By Manny Fernandez and Sarah Hurtes
 
describes abuse allegations

The reporters interviewed several women who told their stories for the first time, as well as more than 60 other people, including Cesar Chavez’s top aides and relatives. The reporters also reviewed hundreds of pages of union records, confidential emails, photographs and other material. March 19, 2026

....Ms. Murguia and another woman, Debra Rojas, say that Mr. Chavez sexually abused them for years when they were girls, from around 1972 to 1977. He was in his 40s and had become a powerful, charismatic figure who captured global attention as a champion of farmworker rights.

The two women have not shared their stories publicly before, and an investigation by The New York Times has uncovered extensive evidence to support their accusations and those raised by several other women against Mr. Chavez, the United Farm Workers co-founder who died in 1993 at the age of 66.

The questions raised by The Times about Mr. Chavez, one of the most consequential figures in Mexican American history, immediately prompted organizations with ties to him to try to distance themselves. The U.F.W. canceled its annual celebrations honoring Mr. Chavez, a response to what the union he once led called “profoundly shocking” accusations....

The abuse allegations appear to be part of a larger pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Chavez, much of which has never been publicly revealed. The Times investigation found that Mr. Chavez also used many of the women who worked and volunteered in his movement for his own sexual gratification. His most prominent female ally in the movement, Dolores Huerta, said in an interview that he sexually assaulted her, a disclosure she has never before made publicly.

Many of the women stayed silent for decades, both out of shame and for fear of tarnishing the image of a man who has become the face of the Latino civil rights movement, his image on school murals and his birthday a state holiday in California.

The findings are based on interviews with more than 60 people, including his top aides at the time, his relatives and former members of the U.F.W., which he co-founded with Ms. Huerta and Gilbert Padilla. The Times reviewed hundreds of pages of union records, confidential emails and photographs, as well as hours of audio recordings from U.F.W. board meetings.

The accounts of abuse from Ms. Murguia and Ms. Rojas were independently verified through interviews with those they confided in decades ago and in more recent years. Elements of their stories were also corroborated in documents, emails, itineraries and other writings from union organizers, supporters of Mr. Chavez and historians.

The Times spoke at length with Ms. Huerta, the renowned Latina activist who helped run the farmworkers’ union with Mr. Chavez and coined the social-justice rallying cry, “Sí, se puede,” loosely translated as “Yes, we can.” She said she has held on to a dark secret for nearly 60 years.

One night during the winter of 1966 in Delano, Calif., she said, Mr. Chavez drove her out to a secluded grape field, parked and raped her inside the vehicle. Ms. Huerta, who was 36 at the time, said she chose not to report the assault to the police because of their hostility toward the movement, and she feared that no one within the union would believe her. She also described an earlier encounter in August 1960, when she said she felt pressured to have sex with him in a hotel room during a work trip in San Juan Capistrano in Southern California....

A handful of Mr. Chavez’s relatives and former U.F.W. leaders have been aware for years about various allegations of sexual misconduct, but there is no evidence that they made efforts to fully investigate the accusations, acknowledge the victims or apologize to them. Instead, many of the women say they were discouraged from speaking out in order to preserve Mr. Chavez’s public image.

Internal emails dating back over a decade show union members discussing Ms. Murguia’s claims of abuse and the impact it had on her life. One of Ms. Murguia’s relatives confronted Mr. Chavez while he was still alive, in the 1980s. According to the relative, Mr. Chavez offered no defense and responded only by clearing his throat....

Nothing has emerged publicly to back up the claims made by Ms. Huerta. Her description of assault could not be independently verified because she said she had told no one, not even her children or closest friends, until just a few weeks ago.

But the paper trail of some of Mr. Chavez’s misconduct involving young girls can be found in the very archives built to preserve his legacy.

In one handwritten letter on girlish stationery imprinted with roses, Ms. Rojas wrote to Mr. Chavez in January 1974 at the age of 13, shifting between childlike school updates and swooning devotion. She said she wrote the letter more than a year after he first kissed and fondled her in his office in 1972, when she was a 12-year-old seventh-grader. “I’m really glad I got to see you & spend time with you, well not like that, but just to know I was near you was enough,” she wrote, adding, “I think of you all of the time. Do you think of me?”
The letter is among thousands of documents and other materials in the Walter P. Reuther Library archives at Wayne State University in Detroit....

Elements of Mr. Chavez’s extramarital affairs with adult women were chronicled in at least two biographies, Matt Garcia’s “From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement,” published in 2012, and Miriam Pawel’s “The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography,” published in 2014.

But neither raised issues of abuse of girls.  While Mr. Chavez had eight children with his wife, Helen Chavez, the Times investigation showed that he also fathered at least four children with three other women. Two of these children and other family members were interviewed and confirmed the relationship. Additionally, 23andMe match results were reviewed for the four children, and they confirmed Mr. Chavez’s biological ties in each case....

Ms. Murguia said she was 13 when Mr. Chavez began inviting her into his office. He had an obsession with alternative healing therapies, and would sometimes put her on his desk and demonstrate the “pressure points” that could relieve stress and pain, she said. That eventually led to kissing, and then fondling. And then more.
“When I was on the yoga mat is when he would try to have sex,” Ms. Murguia said. Ms. Murguia said she wasn’t attracted to Mr. Chavez, and was initially surprised by his touches, but said she felt chosen. “Part of it was, why would someone like that like someone like me?” She said Mr. Chavez told her not to tell anyone because other girls and women would be jealous of their special bond.

He took her on tour with him, having her travel in his car and stand with him at events and marches. She appears next to him in several photographs — among them one of the most iconic images from the U.F.W.’s famous 1,000-Mile March in the summer of 1975, and an earlier shot alongside the folk singer Joan Baez.
But it was also during that time, two years after he first touched Ms. Murguia in his office, that things changed.  By now age 15, she had accompanied Mr. Chavez on a trip to Los Angeles. At a fund-raiser’s home in Bel Air, she walked into the kitchen and found him kissing a woman. She left quickly. “I was disgusted,” she said. On the way back to La Paz, she rode with the guards and the dogs, refusing to share a car with him....
Several people corroborated her story. One family member said she learned of the abuse in the early 1980s, after Ms. Murguia told her about it. Another person said Ms. Murguia disclosed the abuse to him in 1989. One of the men present in the room when Ms. Murguia was kicked out of La Paz refused to comment. Another said he didn’t remember that time in his life.

For a long time, she felt she would be blamed for what had happened. That was how it worked back then, she said — girls were abused by family members, by people close to the family, and it was always kept quiet. And if anyone found out, she said, the question was never about the man. “It was always: ‘Well, what did you do? See what you did.’”  There was one person at La Paz she knew she could share her story with, and that was Ms. Rojas....

One night, Ms. Rojas recalled, Mr. Chavez told her he was sending her home for a week. She was sad and confused, and thought she had done something wrong.

She was waiting at the bus station when Mr. Chavez drove up with one of his bodyguards. He invited her into the car, and they drove to a motel on Highway 99.

In the motel room he shared with her, she said, he had intercourse with her for the first time — rape, under California law. She was a virgin, and remembers that it hurt, and she was bleeding. But she also remembers the gun Mr. Chavez had placed on the night stand next to the bed. She couldn’t help but look at it every time she turned her head, and it scared her, she said. “I said, ‘What’s that for?’” Ms. Rojas said. “Don’t worry about it,” she said he told her. He said because of the death threats he received, he and his security team wanted to make sure they were safe.

Several people and documents corroborated the accusations made by Ms. Rojas, including a relative who said Ms. Rojas first told her in the late 1990s that Mr. Chavez had abused her....

Yet many of those who look back on those years at La Paz also say that Mr. Chavez was a man who could be nurturing one moment, only to use that same emotional intimacy to manipulate and abuse the next. Ms. Huerta said he abused her not only physically but emotionally.

Union records document an argument at La Paz between the two of them over missing financial receipts during a board meeting in 1979. Ms. Huerta demanded respect and pushed back against his suggestions that she had stolen money. Mr. Chavez responded by shouting at her with curses and insults, repeatedly calling her a stupid bitch, according to the audio recordings of board meetings The Times listened to....
 

Saturday, March 14, 2026

Survivorship May Online Conference for Trauma Survivors and Clinicians

 

Survivorship May Online Conference for Trauma Survivors and Clinicians                    

Survivorship is now accepting conference registrations for their May 15 - 17, 2026 online conferences. They are extending their low prices until March 29th. CEs are available for the Friday conference. Conference topics include PTSD, trauma, dissociation, neurofeedback, DID, ritual abuse and mind control. More information is below. 

Please write info@survivorship.org if you are interested in attending their conference. Conference information is at https://survivorship.org/the-survivorship-trafficking-and-extreme-abuse-online-conference-2026/

 

Conference Speakers

Ritual Abuse as Mind Control - Wendy Hoffman

Rituals are common practice in satanic culture. This presentation explores how every moment of a ritual is used for mind control. Its purpose is to capture the minds of its victims and enforce its programs. Traumatic emotions are also an important part of mind control, and they will be discussed.

 

Wendy Hoffman has published four memoirs, two books of poetry and a co-authored book of essays. She does consultations for therapists working in the field of dissociative disorders and presentations on mind control internationally. https://ritualabuse.us/smart/wendy-hoffman/ 

 

Traces of Western Practices of Ritual Abuse in Mary Daly’s

Gyn/Ecology and Other Texts - Lynn Brunet

Mary Daly (1928-2010), born in Schenectady, New York, was a philosopher and theologian and described herself as a radical lesbian feminist, intent on exposing the extent to which the patriarchy exploits women and working towards changing this. This paper will not get into the politics surrounding radical feminism, which is multi-faceted and extensive, but instead will examine one of her key texts, Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (1978). In this text there are multiple references to the experience of spinning. She describes the book as “an invitation to the Wild Witch in all women who long to spin” (Daly 1978, xv).

 

This talk will explore Daly’s use of language throughout Gyn/Ecology to suggest that concealed/revealed in her writing may be traces of western practices of ritual abuse, practices that only began to come to public attention in the mid-1980s. It will suggest that the author’s search for the most extreme examples of ritual torture of women across cultures, coupled with the idiosyncratic metaphorical language of ecstatic spiral journeying used in Gyn/Ecology and other texts, may have been a means of expressing a deeply internalised and repressed experience of childhood ritual abuse. As the following discussion will outline, hidden cultic practices of a Druidic nature appear to have been exported to the United States alongside conservative religious practices amongst migrant groups such as the Irish, the culture that Mary Daly celebrates as her own heritage.

 

Lynn Brunet (PhD) is an Australian art historian whose 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 various artists and writers of the 20th and 21st centuries. https://independent.academia.edu/LynnBrunet1 

 

Remembering Wholeness: Trauma-Informed Writing in Support of Voice, Safety, and Self-Trust - deJoly LaBrier

As both a survivor of extreme abuse and a Life and Writing Coach, her work is informed by lived experience as well as years of supporting women on their healing journeys. In this presentation, she shares how trauma-informed writing practices can support survivors in reclaiming voice, coherence, and a sense of inner authorship after experiences that fracture identity and distort self-perception.

 

Rather than asking survivors to revisit traumatic material, this approach honors personal boundaries and nervous system readiness. Writing becomes a relational practice—one that allows meaning to emerge slowly, safely, and on the survivor’s own terms. This work reflects a deep belief that survivors are not broken, but adaptive—and that wholeness is not something to be earned, but remembered. This presentation recognizes dissociation and multiplicity as adaptive survival responses and offers trauma-informed writing practices that support safety, voice, and self-trust without requiring integration or disclosure.

 

deJoly LaBrier is a Life and Writing Coach, public speaker, and survivor of extreme abuse whose work focuses on trauma-informed writing practices for women impacted by trafficking, ritual abuse, and complex trauma. Drawing from lived experience as well as years of coaching, facilitation, and public speaking, she supports survivors in reclaiming voice, agency, and a sense of wholeness after experiences that fracture identity and distort self-perception. https://dejoly.com/shop 

 

Unraveling the Tangled Mind: Psychotherapy with Survivors of Mind Control - Faige Flakser, LCSW

This presentation offers a clinical roadmap for psychotherapy with survivors of Organized and Extreme Abuse (OEA), including cultic abuse, ritual abuse, trafficking, and other coercive systems. It describes how this work frequently presents with complex trauma and dissociation, with dissociative parts and self-states, often including DID. Participants will be oriented to the core psychological binds created by mind control: confrontation with profound human cruelty and the systematic destabilizing of reality-testing through confusion, coercion, and terror-based conditioning. The presentation highlights three predictable trust ruptures that shape treatment from the first contact: mistrust of helpers, including realistic fears that perpetrators may pose as helpers; mistrust within family systems where grooming and recruitment have often occurred; and mistrust of one’s own mind in the aftermath of sustained manipulation. These ruptures complicate the formation of a therapeutic alliance and require a paced, relational approach that honors the protective functions of doubt, vigilance, and withdrawal.

 

Faige Flakser, LCSW, is a trauma therapist, consultant, and educator with a clinical focus on trauma, dissociation, and DID, as well as Organized and Extreme Abuse (OEA), including mind control and coercive systems. She holds leadership roles within the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), where she is the former Chair of the OEA Special Interest Group and has presented at ISSTD conferences. She is Director of the Trauma Division at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy (ICP).

An Introduction to Neurofeedback for Trauma - Joshua Moore MA, LMHC, BCN

Neurofeedback is a non-invasive, evidence-based therapeutic modality that helps individuals to self-regulate brain activity through real-time biofeedback of brainwave patterns, often referred to as EEG entrainment. In the treatment of trauma, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), neurofeedback targets key neurophysiological features such as hyperarousal, emotional dysregulation, and altered brain connectivity resulting from traumatic experiences. By identifying specific neuro-markers associated with PTSD, practitioners can transform the often intangible nature of psychological trauma into visible representations on a computer screen or printout, facilitating targeted training to normalize brain function.

This approach serves as a promising adjunct to traditional trauma therapies, effectively reducing core PTSD symptoms—including intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviors, and heightened arousal—without necessitating direct exposure to traumatic memories, which many clients find aversive. Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses indicate moderate beneficial effects on PTSD symptoms, with neurofeedback demonstrating clinically meaningful improvements in symptom severity. Neurofeedback is also discussed for its potential utility in Bessel van der Kolk's book, The Body Keeps the Score, which highlights innovative, body-oriented interventions for trauma recovery (van der Kolk, 2014). In this lecture, key research and outcomes will be reviewed, alongside clinical principles and skills, emerging protocols, practical resources for locating practitioners, and training to become a certified neurofeedback practitioner.

 

Joshua Moore is a licensed mental health counselor who incorporates a variety of treatments, including talk therapy, EMDR, QEEG brain mapping, family systems work, and neurofeedback. Joshua is passionate about making evidence-based quality neurofeedback more available to the community. Joshua provides neurofeedback mentorship to several clinics and creates online workshops for beginners and advanced clinicians in the field of healthcare. Clinically, he works with difficult cases, including dissociative identity disorder, PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and complex or unclear diagnoses. Joshua holds a Master’s degree in Counseling from Multnomah University and a Bachelor’s degree in Theology, and he is board-certified in neurofeedback through the Biofeedback International Certification Alliance (BCIA).

 

Intergenerational Occult Families, and One Father’s Fight for His Abducted Daughter - Iain Bryson

Iain Bryson’s daughter was taken fifteen years ago by his first wife and her family after his first wife told him that her family is a “cult,” and that she would be taking their daughter back to them because of “mind control.” Iain had no idea what ritual abuse and trauma-based-mind-control were until his daughter was taken. He had to reconcile that fact with what his wife had warned and the signs that his mind had refused to see. Iain tried to get help from local authorities and international authorities. Despite the fact that his daughter is a United States citizen, the only advice given by the Embassy was to re-abduct his daughter given that Poland is out of the Embassy’s jurisdiction. Having to take matters into his own hands, Iain ended up in the Polish criminal justice system. He was incarcerated for fifty months in Poland because of his attempts to make the system aware on his daughter. Iain was released in 2015.

In 2024, Iain Bryson published an evidence-based, documentary style memoir of his daughter’s abduction. He continues to fight for his daughter, and for other survivors of the horrendous atrocity we know as ritual abuse.

Clinical Discussion Group - How Ethics and History Effect Present Practice

The Survivorship Board Members will moderate a discussion on how ethics and history in the field of psychology effect present practice. The discussion will include historical events in the field of psychology, allegations of ethical lapses that happened in different psychotherapeutic settings and how historical misconceptions of the field and different diagnoses may effect present practice.

None of the material on this page, on linked pages or at the conference is meant as therapy, or to take the place of therapy.

 

 

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Hidden in Plain Sight: Lessons From International Case Studies of Child Sexual Abuse in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings

 

Hidden in Plain Sight: Lessons From International Case Studies of Child Sexual Abuse in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings                           
 
Woodlock D; Olejníková L; Salter M; Singh S; Young A; Whitten T; Rouse J; Griffiths P, 2026, 'Hidden in Plain Sight: Lessons From International Case Studies of Child Sexual Abuse in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings', Child Maltreatment, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10775595251414844 

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings is sometimes perceived as rare or the subject of a “moral panic”. Recent high-profile cases challenge this characterisation, exposing systemic failures within contemporary childcare environments that enable the sexual abuse of very young children. This article examines six prosecuted CSA cases from high-income countries involving serial offending against children under the age of five to explore how such severe abuse can persist despite regulation and apparent safeguards, and contrary to persistent scholarly claims that child sex offenders do not target ECEC settings. Using gendered organisational theory, our analysis reveals how organisational cultures, gendered power dynamics, and failures in accountability contribute to the occurrence and concealment of abuse. By situating these cases within broader patriarchal structural contexts, the article offers a critical rethinking of institutional responsibility and proposes reforms to strengthen child protection in ECEC settings.

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings have long been associated with controversies over child sexual abuse (CSA). While high-profile allegations in the 1980s, such as the McMartin Preschool trial, led to widespread skepticism and claims of “mass hysteria” (Cheit, 2014; Jenkins, 1992), contemporary evidence challenges the view that such abuse is merely the product of moral panic.

Some scholars continue to frame concerns about CSA in ECEC as exaggerated (Munk et al., 2013). Others, such as Parkinson and Cashmore (2017), have argued that ECEC environments are relatively low risk for CSA as compared to those involving older children, claiming that child sex offenders are rarely interested in very young children and there is limited opportunity for abuse. Nonetheless, large-scale offending persists. Recently in Australia, over 1200 children were referred to health authorities after a childcare worker was charged with 70 sex offences (Brown & Higgins, 2025). This case, occurring alongside the prosecution of Australian childcare worker Ashley Griffith (Smee, 2024), exposes a recurring pattern of premeditated exploitation and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) production that mirrors earlier decades (Cheit, 2014), now facilitated by digital technologies.

This study presents a qualitative analysis of six prosecuted cases from high-income countries involving serial offending against children under the age of five. Collectively, these cases document the abuse of at least 245 children. The primary aim is to identify the institutional conditions that enable such abuse and undermine safeguarding mechanisms. Drawing on gendered organisational theory, our analysis seeks to understand how abuse is enabled, concealed, or disrupted by gendered organisational structures and patriarchal cultures (Acker, 1990). The article reviews existing research, outlines our gendered organisational framework, applies this lens to six international case studies, and proposes actionable recommendations for reform....

Case Study Analysis

This case study analysis draws on six contemporary, prosecuted cases of CSA in ECEC settings, spanning the period from 2009 to 2024. Each case was selected based on its alignment with the study’s inclusion criteria and capacity to reveal broader institutional patterns. By analysing these cases through the lens of gendered organisational theory, the study identifies recurring dynamics that allowed abuse to persist across varied settings. A detailed account of each case follows, highlighting the organisational conditions that facilitated harm....

Offender Networks and the Lone Offender Myth

These case studies challenge the prevailing view of CSA offenders as isolated individuals, revealing instead the existence of networks that facilitate the sharing of CSAM, the exchange of strategies, and mutual encouragement. The evidence in these cases demonstrates that offenders commonly operate within online communities, facilitated and camouflaged by encryption technologies, that normalise and reinforce abusive behaviour and share CSAM of children in their care. McCoole, for example, was a central figure in The Love Zone, a forum on Tor hidden services (the so-called “dark web”) dedicated to the exchange of CSAM, which also included Griffith (Staff Writers, 2023). McCoole later had his sentence reduced for assisting international investigations, including cases in Denmark (Opie, 2018). Once dismissed as the product of moral panic, claims about organised CSA offending have now been substantiated through forensic evidence (Salter, 2012). Indeed, organised offending has been a consistent theme in allegations and investigations of CSA in ECEC for over forty years (Cheit, 2014). However, the proposition that ECEC may be targeted by organised offender networks for the purpose of CSA has not been taken seriously in child protection frameworks and measures. This oversight can be understood through Acker’s (1990) concept of cultural symbols. The persistence of the “lone offender” myth serves a protective function for the institution; it allows ECEC providers to treat abuse as the result of a singular “bad apple” rather than interrogating how the gendered structure of the workforce might attract and shield organised abuse networks....

Internal Safeguarding Failures

In each case study, internal safeguarding mechanisms within the ECEC context failed to detect or respond adequately to CSA, and the abuse was discovered only after CSAM investigations or, in one instance, sexual assault of a child in public. As seen in the cases of Griffith, Doyle, George, McCoole, and Robert M., it was the discovery of CSAM that compelled institutions and authorities to take action. In the case of D.N. in Sweden, abuse only surfaced after a separate police investigation unrelated to institutional safeguards. Some institutions repeatedly dismissed or downplayed concerns raised by mothers and female staff, until external, undeniable evidence emerged. This systemic dismissal of female voices points to gendered workplace interactions (Acker, 1990), where the professional status of the male worker is privileged over the evidence provided by mothers and female colleagues. These patterns underscore how institutional responses often depend on proof rather than trust, suggesting that ECEC safeguarding systems may be structured to respond only when abuse becomes irrefutable, rather than working to prevent it.

Tolerance for Grooming Behaviour

Most of the offenders in the six cases were well-regarded by colleagues, trusted by families, and liked by the children in their care. Simply presenting as professional and caring often proved sufficient to gain the trust of colleagues, management, and parents, which often continued even after concerns were raised. In some instances, offenders socialised with management and parents, offered private babysitting, and were welcomed into families’ homes. For example, sentencing remarks in the case of Griffith noted that he was often cruel and mocking towards children during the abuse, as revealed in CSAM he produced (The King v Griffith, 2024). Despite this, he was invited to children’s birthday parties and formed close relationships with their families. The case studies corroborate previous research on how offenders often actively groom not only children, but also co-workers, parents, and the institution itself (Briggs, 2014)....

Poor Oversight and Cross-Institutional Tracking

The case studies demonstrated how weak regulatory structures, including a lack of oversight of staffing and hiring practices, enabled offenders to move between services without adequate scrutiny or shared information. In a context where child safety should be the central concern, these failures in information sharing and employment vetting reflect a lack of institutional accountability. Across the case studies, offenders gained access to ECEC roles through informal networks, as in the case of McCoole, or without standard hiring procedures, as was the case with George. In other cases, long professional experience led to misplaced trust. Even when concerns were formally raised, such as McCoole being deemed unsuitable to work with children, this did not prevent further employment with children. These vetting failures expose a dangerous organisational logic (Acker, 1990). By treating applicants as abstract, gender-neutral units of labour, the system failed to account for the specific risk profiles associated with the glass escalator phenomenon, where scrutiny was lowered to facilitate the rapid entry of men into the workforce.....

Conclusion

Our case analysis challenges prior claims that ECEC settings are a low risk for CSA or that concerns about child maltreatment in ECEC are a moral panic or otherwise exaggerated. It is perhaps timely to reflect on the legacy and consequences of such claims, which have received broad scholarly and media support in previous decades, given the cumulative evidence of serious and serial CSA offending in ECEC settings. Patterns across the case studies reveal the same institutional weaknesses: failure to act on concerns, over-reliance on external investigations, and a reluctance to question those in trusted roles. The development and evaluation of proactive safeguarding strategies tailored to the unique vulnerabilities of preverbal and very young children in ECEC environments, including the effectiveness of institutional grooming prevention, the promotion of institutional courage and workplace cultures of accountability and transparency, is needed.

This article has highlighted the paucity of research into the prevalence and characteristics of CSA in ECEC. There is a clear need for research into rates of suspected, reported and substantiated CSA cases in ECEC, the response of educators, institutions, regulators and the criminal justice system, and the impact of such abuse upon children and their families. Forensic studies of offenders targeting preverbal children would help to elucidate their specific motivations and strategies....