FBI investigating those who 'facilitated' Epstein, False Memory Syndrome Foundation dissolving, Killed mother in 'satanic' ritual, Over 900 clergy members left off church’s sex abuse lists

 

- Exclusive: FBI investigating British socialite and others who 'facilitated’ Epstein

 

  "The FBI is investigating British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell" 

   "she claims Epstein forced her to have sex with him and friends including (Prince) Andrew."

 

 

- FMS Foundation dissolving on December 31, 2019

   " It has been called "a pseudoscientific syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child abuse."

  " (Ralph) Underwager and Wakefield were also instrumental in helping the Freyds organize the (FMS)foundation"

 

  "PAIDIKA: Is choosing paedophilia for you a responsible choice for the individuals?

 

   RALPH UNDERWAGER: Certainly it is responsible. What I have been struck by as I have come to know more about and understand people who choose paedophilia is that they let themselves be too much defined by other people. That is usually an essentially negative definition. Paedophiles spend a lot of time and energy defending their choice. I don’t think that a paedophile needs to do that. Paedophiles can boldly and courageously affirm what they choose. They can say that what they want is to find the best way to love."

  " The court remains convinced [the psychologist (Ralph Underwager)] did not have the qualifications to testify as a doctor  (Bold added)

 

 

- Woman who killed mother in Merced County ‘satanic’ ritual not guilty by reason of insanity

  "told investigators “It was a calling to kill” her mother as part of a “satanic practice”

 

 

- Hundreds of accused clergy left off church’s sex abuse lists

   " An AP analysis found more than 900 clergy members accused of child sexual abuse who were missing from lists released by the dioceses and religious orders where they served"

Exclusive: FBI investigating British socialite and others who 'facilitated’ Epstein

Mark Hosenball World News December 27, 2019  

 

(Reuters) - The FBI is investigating British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and several other people linked to U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation. They said a principal focus of the FBI’s investigation is Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, and other “people who facilitated” Epstein’s allegedly illegal behavior. Maxwell has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing....they said the FBI has no current plans to interview Britain’s Prince Andrew, a friend of Epstein’s who stepped down from his public duties in November because of what he called his “ill-judged” association with the well-connected money manager.

 

....Epstein’s suicide in August, at age 66, came a little over a month after he was arrested and charged with trafficking dozens of underage girls as young as 14 from at least 2002 to 2005. Prosecutors said he recruited girls to give him massages, which became sexual in nature. He had pleaded not guilty.

 

Maxwell, the daughter of late British media magnate Robert Maxwell, is an ex-girlfriend of Epstein who remained a member of his inner circle. She has largely disappeared from public view since 2016.

 

Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s alleged victims, has said in a civil lawsuit that Maxwell recruited her into Epstein’s circle, where she claims Epstein forced her to have sex with him and friends including Andrew.

Maxwell has called Giuffre’s allegations lies. Giuffre in response filed a defamation suit against Maxwell in 2015.

Giuffre repeated the claims about the prince in a BBC interview that aired this month.

 

Andrew, 59, also categorically denies the accusations and has said he has no recollection of meeting Giuffre, who was previously named Virginia Roberts.

 

The two law enforcement sources said the FBI’s principal focus is on people who facilitated Epstein and that Andrew does not fit into that category. They did not rule out the possibility that the FBI would seek to interview Andrew at a later date.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-jeffrey-epstein-investigation/exclusive-fbi-investigating-british-socialite-and-others-who-facilitated-epstein-sources-idUSKBN1YV0VB

 

 

 

Woman who killed mother in Merced County ‘satanic’ ritual not guilty by reason of insanity
By Vikaas Shanker December 19, 2019

 

A Dos Palos woman was committed to the Department of State Hospitals for life Thursday after she was deemed insane when she killed her mother in a brutal stabbing two years ago.

....When deputies arrived at the home, deputies found Melissa Bal “covered in blood” and her mother dead, according to a news release.

 

The San Diego native then told investigators “It was a calling to kill” her mother as part of a “satanic practice,” according to reports.

 

Family members also told investigators Melissa Bal had mental issues, she made troubling statements of a sexual nature the night before the homicide, and that she would occasionally make statements referring to satanic practices....

https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/article238548078.html 

 

Hundreds of accused clergy left off church’s sex abuse lists
by Claudia Lauer and Meghan Hoyer, Associated Press, Updated: December 28, 2019

 

Richard J. Poster served time for possessing child pornography, violated his probation by having contact with children, admitted masturbating in the bushes near a church school and in 2005 was put on a sex offender registry. And yet the former Catholic priest was only just this month added to a list of clergy members credibly accused of child sexual abuse — after The Associated Press asked why he was not included.

 

Victims advocates had long criticized the Roman Catholic Church for not making public the names of credibly accused priests. Now, despite the dioceses’ release of nearly 5,300 names, most in the last two years, critics say the lists are far from complete.

 

An AP analysis found more than 900 clergy members accused of child sexual abuse who were missing from lists released by the dioceses and religious orders where they served....

 

More than a hundred of the former clergy members not listed by dioceses or religious orders had been charged with sexual crimes, including rape, solicitation and receiving or viewing child pornography.

 

On top of that, the AP found another nearly 400 priests and clergy members who were accused of abuse while serving in dioceses that have not yet released any names....

 

Of the 900 unlisted accused clergy members, more than a tenth had been charged with a sex-related crime — a higher percentage than those named publicly by dioceses and orders, the AP found....

 

The AP found the Boston archdiocese has the most accused priests left off its list, with almost 80 not included. Nearly three-quarters, like McCormick, were priests from religious orders. Another dozen died before allegations were received — another exclusion cited by the archdiocese. https://www.inquirer.com/news/nation-world/catholic-church-priest-sexual-abuse-ap-investigation-20191229.html 
 

FMS (False Memory Syndrome) Foundation dissolving on December 31, 2019
On the FMSF website:

"After 27 years, the FMS Foundation dissolved on December 31, 2019."

 

Information on the FMSF
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=False_Memory_Syndrome

 

 

False Memory Syndrome

 

The term False Memory Syndrome was created in 1992 by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF)[1]. It has been called "a pseudoscientific syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child abuse."[1] The FMSF was created by parents who claimed to be falsely accused of child sexual abuse.[1] The False Memory Syndrome was described as "a widespread social phenomenon where misguided therapists cause patients to invent memories of sexual abuse."[1] Research has shown that most delayed memories of childhood abuse are true[2]. In general, it has been shown that false allegations of childhood sexual abuse are rare, with some studies showing rates as low as one percent[3][4] and some studies showing slightly higher rates[3]. It has been found that children tend to understate rather than overstate the extent of any abuse experienced[3]. It has been stated that misinformation on the topic of child sexual abuse is widespread and that the media have contributed to this problem by reporting favorably on unproven and controversial claims like the False Memory Syndrome[5]....

 

Critiques of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and its theories

 

Members of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation have been critiqued for misrepresenting data and for their possible reasons for having created the idea of the syndrome.

 

In reply to a TV documentary about FMS, William Freyd, (Pamela Freyd's (one of the founders of the FMSF) step brother and sister-in-law) wrote "The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a fraud designed to deny a reality that Peter and Pam have spent most of their lives trying to escape. There is no such thing as a False Memory Syndrome."[2] "In addition, Peter Freyd's own mother (who is also Pamela's step-mother) and his only sibling, a brother, were also estranged from Pamela and Peter. It should be noted that these family members support Jennifer's side of the story."[1]

 

A co-founder of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, Ralph Underwager, has also had several critiques written about him[17]. In an interview in Amsterdam in June 1991 by “Paidika,” Editor-in-Chief, Joseph Geraci, Underwager replied to the question "Is choosing paedophilia for you a responsible choice for the individuals?" with "Certainly it is responsible. What I have been struck by as I have come to know more about and understand people who choose paedophilia is that they let themselves be too much defined by other people. That is usually an essentially negative definition. Paedophiles spend a lot of time and energy defending their choice. I don’t think that a paedophile needs to do that. Paedophiles can boldly and courageously affirm what they choose. They can say that what they want is to find the best way to love. I am also a theologian and as a theologian, I believe it is God’s will that there be closeness and intimacy, unity of the flesh, between people. A paedophile can say: “This closeness is possible for me within the choices that I’ve made."[18]

 

In a transcription of the TV show Witness for Mr. Bubbles from “Australia 60 Minutes,” Channel Nine Network (Aired on August 5, 1990 in Australia), researcher Anna Salter stated that Underwager "isn’t accurate. That what he says in court does not necessarily fairly represent the literature." That he frequently distorts facts and he sometimes he quotes specific studies, and he’s frequently wrong about what the studies say."[19]

 

It was stated in a court document that the two books that he and his wife Hollida Wakefield, wrote "Accusations of Child Sexual Abuse" (1988), and The Real World of Child Interrogations (1990) were not "well received in the medical and scientific press." It was also stated that "when they cannot use a quotation out of context from an article, they make unsupported statements, some of which are palpably untrue and others simply unprovable.” David L. Chadwick, Book Review, in 261 JAMA 3035 (May 26, 1989)." In the same document it was stated that "Both Salter and Toth came to believe that Underwager is a hired gun who makes a living by deceiving judges about the state of medical knowledge and thus assisting child molesters to evade punishment."[20]

 

Those that have examined or written about the False Memory Syndrome theories or foundation or its members have been subjected to harassment. This includes Anna Salter's analysis of her harassment by Ralph Underwager[21], David Calof, the former editor of Treating Abuse Today [22] and Jennifer Hoult [23].

 

Accusations have also been made about the accuracy of the False Memory Syndromes' proponents data and research. Salter has critiqued some of those that defend those accused of child sexual abuse. “The people who support and defend those accused of child sexual abuse indiscriminately, those who join organizations dedicated to defending people who are accused of child sexual abuse with no screening whatsoever to keep out those who are guilty as charged, are…not necessarily people engaged in an objective search for the truth. Some of them can and do use deceit, trickery, misstated research, harassment, intimidation, and charges of laundering federal money to silence their opponents.”[21].

 

Whitfield stated "Since at least 95 percent of child molesters initially deny their abusive behaviors, how can untrained lay people like Pamela Freyd and her staff “document” a real or “unreal” case of “FMS,” as appears to be the case with most of their communications, which usually occur over the telephone or by letter (p. 76)."[2]. Jennifer Freyd stated “Despite this documentation for both traumatic amnesia and essentially accurate delayed recall, memory science is often presented as if it supports the view that traumatic amnesia is very unlikely or perhaps impossible and that a great many, perhaps a majority, maybe even all, recovered memories of abuse are false…Yet no research supports such an implication…and a great deal of research supports the premise that forgetting sexual abuse is fairly common and that recovered memories are sometimes essentially true.” (p. 107) [24]

 

Proponents of false memory theories have also been accused of manipulating the media[25][26]. The theory of false memory has been used as a defense in court to try and negate "abusive, criminal behavior" and this defense is fraught with disinformation, smoke screens, and other untruths that are a distortion of what the available science of the psychology of trauma and memory shows.[27].

 

Crisis or Creation?

A Systematic Examination of "False Memory Syndrome" by Stephanie J. Dallam Leadership Council

"The foundation's leaders, Pamela and Peter Freyd, were motivated because their adult daughter privately accused Peter of sexually abusing her as a child. They were put in touch with other parents claiming to be falsely accused by Dr. Harold Lief (Calof, 1993a), who was later revealed to be Pamela's personal psychiatrist (J. Freyd, 1993). Families were also referred by Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield, a husband and wife team who are prominent advocates for people accused of molesting children. A frequent defense expert witness, Underwager's philosophy concerning the prosecution of child sexual abuse has been summed up by the statement that it is "more desirable that a thousand children in abuse situations are not discovered than for one innocent person to be convicted wrongly" (Kraft, 1985, p. 1).

 

Underwager and Wakefield were also instrumental in helping the Freyds organize the foundation (P. Freyd, May 21, 1992; Underwager & Wakefield, 1994). The original toll-free number for the FMSF rang at Underwager's private Institute for Psychological Therapies, and Underwager and Wakefield developed the initial questionnaire used to survey families who contacted the FMSF (P. Freyd, May 21, 1992).1 "
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/dallam/6.html

 

Ralph Underwager
Information on Ralph Underwager: https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/ralph-underwager/

 

Interview in Amsterdam in June 1991 by “Paidika,” Editor-in-Chief, Joseph Geraci.

PAIDIKA: Is choosing paedophilia for you a responsible choice for the individuals?

RALPH UNDERWAGER: Certainly it is responsible. What I have been struck by as I have come to know more about and understand people who choose paedophilia is that they let themselves be too much defined by other people. That is usually an essentially negative definition. Paedophiles spend a lot of time and energy defending their choice. I don’t think that a paedophile needs to do that. Paedophiles can boldly and courageously affirm what they choose. They can say that what they want is to find the best way to love. I am also a theologian and as a theologian, I believe it is God’s will that there be closeness and intimacy, unity of the flesh, between people. A paedophile can say: “This closeness is possible for me within the choices that I’ve made.”

Paedophiles are too defensive. They go around saying, “You people out there are saying that what I choose is bad, that it’s no good. You’re putting me in prison, you’re doing all these terrible things to me. I have to define my love as being in some way or other illicit.” What I think is that paedophiles can make the assertion that the pursuit of intimacy and love is what they choose. With boldness, they can say, “I believe this is in fact part of God’s will.” They have the right to make these statements for themselves as personal choices. Now whether or not they can persuade other people they are right is another matter (laughs).
http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/Underwager2.html

 

State v. Swan, 114 Wash.2d 613, 790 P.2d 610, May 3, 1990 At the trial of this case, the defense sought to qualify Dr. Ralph Underwager, a licensed psychologist, as an expert witness. The trial court ruled that the psychologist’s proposed testimony was not proper because there was no indication that the results of the doctor’s work had been accepted in the scientific community and because the testimony went directly to the credibility of the victims and invaded the province of the jury.

The court remains convinced [the psychologist] did not have the qualifications to testify as a doctor, and that the offered testimony, in any event, was within the common experience of all of us. The psychologist [w]as a researcher who did not have bona fide qualifications in the view of the Court. He was not involved in an independent research undertaking, but rather was approached to undertake research by an interested party with no interest [in] the outcome of the research. It is the Court’s memory [the psychologist’s] research was undertaken at the behest of the insurance industry relative to civil claims for child sexual abuse.

It was not shown at trial that the psychologist’s position on child interviewing was accepted by the scientific community. The psychologist’s proposed testimony did not satisfy the test for admissibility set forth in ER 702 and was properly refused. http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/Underwager4.html