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.... 

 

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10775595251414844 

 

Judge Lets Ghislaine Maxwell (Jeffrey Epstein's associate) Call Elizabeth Loftus to testify https://ritualabuse.us/smart/elizabeth-loftus/ 

 

Judge Lets Ghislaine Maxwell Call ‘False Memory’ Expert Involved in Robert Durst, O.J. Simpson, and Harvey Weinstein Cases   Adam Klasfeld Nov 22nd, 2021

(Information on Elizabeth Loftus:  https://ritualabuse.us/smart/elizabeth-loftus/ 

– A Brief History of the False Memory Research of Elizabeth Loftus

– Ethics Complaints Filed Against FMSF Board Member Elizabeth Loftus
– “Lost in a Shopping Mall” A Breach of Professional Ethics
– Quotes: Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D.
– The Alleged Ethical Violations of Elizabeth Loftus in the Case of Jane Doe

Information on Paul Shanley https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/shanley-recovered-memory-case/  

"Shanley was accused of sexual abuse in the 1960’s, the 1970’s, the 1980’s and the 1990’s. His church personnel records indicated he was transferred from parish to parish despite allegations of abuse. The Boston Herald (4/9/02) printed that Shanley “spoke in favor of sex between men and boys at a formative 1978 meeting in Boston of the “Man Boy Lovers of North America” and that he “admitted openly to raping and sodomizing minors when confronted by church investigators under Boston’s two past archbishops, Humberto Cardinal Medeiros and Law.”)

 

Elizabeth Loftus, an expert in false memories, testifies in Paul Shanley child abuse trial

Exactly a week before the anticipated start of her sex trafficking trial, Ghislaine Maxwell received permission to call a “false memory” expert relied upon by Harvey Weinstein, Robert Durst, O.J. Simpson and hundreds of other criminal defendants seeking to undermine the credibility of their accusers.

In the words of a New Yorker profile on the controversy surrounding her expertise, Elizabeth Loftus has “Changed the Meaning of Memory,” and her life’s work has collided with the #MeToo movement’s moment of cultural reckoning. In particular, Loftus has questioned the reliability of memory and how she believes suggestion can mold it. She also has testified about her research during the trials of Jerry Sandusky, Ted Bundy, and Paul Shanley, a now-deceased priest who served 12 years in prison following his conviction for raping a child.

In a two page order on Monday morning, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan granted Maxwell permission to call Loftus—subject to certain limitations that are currently under seal. The threadbare order states only that the government’s motion to block her testimony is denied in part and granted in part.

A fuller explanation of the order may be released if the prosecutors and defense team propose redactions agreed upon by the judge....

 

Maxwell has been accused of grooming minor girls for Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual predation and participating in the abuse herself. Epstein’s scheme allegedly operated through what a Palm Beach detective described as a “sexual Pyramid scheme,” built upon recruiting minor girls to give him massages for money, and prosecutors claim Maxwell was a top procuress of victims. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, multiple violations of the Mann Act, and other offenses. Though her latest indictment lists four minor victims, she has noted that one of them attained the age of consent during the time of the alleged conspiracy.

 

https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/ghislaine-maxwell/judge-lets-ghislaine-maxwell-call-false-memory-expert-who-testified-as-defense-psychologist-for-robert-durst-o-j-simpson-harvey-weinstein/ 

Michael Salter - Organized Abuse

 

Michael Salter

Organised abuse has been reported by child victims, adult survivors and a range of professionals for over thirty years. However, organised abuse remains poorly understood.
This website has been developed by criminologist Scientia Associate Professor Michael Salter who specialises in the study of organised abuse and complex trauma. The aim of the website is to disseminate reliable information about organised abuse to professionals, victims and survivors.
https://www.organisedabuse.com/

Scientia Associate Professor Michael Salter
I am the Scientia Associate Professor in Criminology at the University of New South Wales, Australia. I specialise in the study of organised sexual abuse. In addition to my work on complex trauma, I have researched and published widely on violence against women and children.
I sit on the Scientific Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. I am an Associate Editor of Child Abuse Review, the peer-reviewed journal of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, and I sit on the editorial board of the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation.
I act as a consultant and trainer to a range of non-government organisations and government departments at the state and national level. I am an expert advisor to the Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.
https://www.organisedabuse.com/michael-salter

    Salter, M. and Hanson, E. (2021) “I need you all to understand how pervasive this issue is”: User efforts to regulate child sexual offending on social media. In Baily, J., Flynn, A. and Henry, N. The Emerald International Handbook of Technology-facilitated Violence and Abuse. Emerald Publishing.
  Salter, M. (2018) Child sexual abuse, in Rennison, C.M., Dekeseredy, W. S., Hall-Sanchez, A. (Eds), Routledge International Handbook of Violence Studies, London and New York: Routledge
  Salter, M. (2018) Finding a new narrative: Meaningful responses to ‘false memory’ disinformation, in Sinason, V. Memory in Dispute, Karnac: London.
Salter, M. (2018) Child sexual abuse. In Dekeseredy, W. and Dragiewicz, M. (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of Critical Criminology, Routledge: London and New York.
 Salter, M. (2016) Organised child sexual abuse in the media. In Pontel, H. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Oxford University Press: Oxford and London.
 Salter, M. (2008) Out of the shadows: Re-envisioning the debate on ritual abuse. In: Perskin. P. and Noblitt. R. (eds) Ritual abuse in the twenty-first century: Psychological, forensic, social and political considerations. Robert D. Reed: Brandon, OR.
https://www.organisedabuse.com/resources/

Organised abuse and the politics of disbelief
Michael Salter
https://www.academia.edu/2042170/Organised_abuse_and_the_politics_of_disbelief

Out of the shadows: Re-envisioning the debate on ritual abuse
2008 Michael Salter
https://www.academia.edu/2046900/Out_of_the_shadows_Re_envisioning_the_debate_on_ritual_abuse

Ritual Abuse, Mind Control and Organised Abuse: Examining our History and Looking Forward
Michael Salter, PhD
I was a teenager when ritual abuse was first reported in Australia. A series of newspaper articles in the mid-1990s claimed that women were entering psychotherapy only to ‘recover’ memories of grotesque and improbable abuse.

The general thrust of coverage was that the movement against child abuse had gone too far, and that therapists and social workers were encouraging, and sometimes forcing, children and women to imagine abuse that had never happened. I was entirely unprepared when, only a few years after the publication of those articles, a friend began disclosing ritual abuse in the context of a paedophile ring. These disclosures occurred without facilitation or encouragement by a mental health professional, and they did not conform to mass media warnings about ‘false’ and ‘recovered’ memories. She had never ‘forgotten’ her abuse and she was reporting attacks in the present that left behind undeniable marks and injuries. Her disclosures set me on the path to a career as a criminologist specializing in the study of organized child sexual abuse. I now chair the Ritual Abuse, Mind Control and Organised Abuse Special Interest Group (RAMCOA) which is full of people just like me: people who unexpectedly encountered survivors of extreme abuse and have sought to understand and address their particular needs. The SIG includes an important cohort of therapists who are also survivors, driven by personal experience and professional commitment to provide care for others who share their history. Over the last few years, there’ve been moves afoot within the ISSTD to revisit and come to grips with the fractious legacies of the ‘memory wars’, including controversies over ritual abuse and mind control. I listened with great interest at the national ISSTD conference in Chicago this year as a number of ‘veterans’ of those wars shared their reflections on that time.
https://news.isst-d.org/ritual-abuse-mind-control-and-organized-abuse-examining-our-history-and-looking-forward/

Michael Salter, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Criminology and Scientia Fellow at the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales
https://violenceresearch.wvu.edu/executive-board/research-associates/michael-salter
Dr. Michael Salter is an Associate Professor of Criminology and Scientia Fellow at the School of Social Sciences at UNSW. Michael applies critical and feminist theory to the study of child sexual exploitation, gendered violence and complex trauma. He is leading two national studies: one on multi-sectorial constructions on complex trauma, and the second on the role of parents in the production of child exploitation material. Other current research projects include an analysis of perpetrator interventions in gendered violence and the role of technology in domestic violence. Michael sits on the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, and he is Associate Editor of Child Abuse Review.

Dr. Salter’s recent publications include:
Salter, M. (2020). Improved accountability: The role of perpetrator intervention systems.
Salter, M. (2020). “A deep wound under my heart”: Constructions of complex trauma and implications for women’s wellbeing and safety from violence.
Salter, M., Robinson, K., Ullman, J., Denson, N., Ovenden, G., Noonan, K., & Bansel, P. (2019). Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Men’s Attitudes and Understandings of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. DOI: 10.1177/0886260519898433.
McPhillips, K., Salter, M., Roberts-Pedersen, E., & Kezelman, C. (2019). Understanding trauma as a system of psycho-social harm: Contributions from the Australian royal commission into child sex abuse. Child abuse & neglect, 99. DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104232.
Salter, M. (2019). The transitional space of public inquiries: The case of the Royal Commission into Institutional Forms of Child Sexual Abuse. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology. DOI: 10.1177/0004865819886634.
Salter, M. (2019). Online Justice in the Circuit of Capital: #MeToo, Marketization and the Deformation of Sexual Ethics. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-15213-0_20.
Dragiewicz, M., Harris, B., Woodlock, D., & Salter, M. (2019). Domestic violence and communication technology: Survivor experiences of intrusion, surveillance, and identity crime.

Michael Salter
UNSW Sydney | UNSW · School of Social Sciences
My research is focused on violence against women, child abuse, primary prevention and complex forms of victimisation, including organised abuse and technologically-facilitated abuse.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Salter7

Organised Sexual Abuse
By Michael Salter
Copyright Year 2013 1st Edition
ISBN 9781138789159
Organised Sexual Abuse offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary investigation of this phenomenon. Since the early 1980s, social workers and mental health professionals around the globe have encountered clients reporting sexual abuse by organized groups or networks. These allegations have been amongst the most controversial in debates over child sexual abuse, raising many unanswered questions. Are reports of organized abuse factual or the product of moral panic and false memories? If these reports are true, what is the appropriate response? The fields of child protection and psychotherapy have been polarised over the issue. And, although cases of organized abuse continue to be uncovered, a reasoned and evidence-based analysis of the subject is long overdue.
Examining the existing evidence, and supplementing it with further qualitative research, in this book Michael Salter addresses: the relationship between sexual abuse and organized abuse; questions over the veracity of testimony; the gap between the policing response to sexual abuse and the realities of child sexual exploitation; the contexts in which sexually abusive groups develop and operate; the role of religion and ritual in subcultures of multi-perpetrator sexual abuse; as well as the experience of adults and children with histories of organized abuse in the criminal justice system and health system. Organized Sexual Abuse thus provides a definitive analysis that will be of immense value to those with professional and academic interests in this area.
https://www.routledge.com/Organised-Sexual-Abuse/Salter/p/book/9781138789159

“A deep wound under my heart”: Constructions of complex trauma and implications for women’s wellbeing and safety from violence May 2020 Michael Salter
Responses to women who have experienced complex trauma need to be sensitive, coordinated and consistent between services and agencies to ensure women’s wellbeing and safety from violence. However, the development of shared frameworks of practice for addressing complex trauma has been forestalled by a lack of professional consensus and understanding…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341667576_A_deep_wound_under_my_heart_Constructions_of_complex_trauma_and_implications_for_women’s_wellbeing_and_safety_from_violence

Organized Sexual Abuse. Dr. Michael Salter
Today on the podcast, Michael Salter.
Michael is an Associate Professor in Criminology at Western Sydney University, Australia and specializes in the study of organized sexual abuse.
In addition to his work on complex trauma, Michael Salter has researched and published widely on violence against women and children.
Michael sits on the Scientific Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation and is an associate editor of Child Abuse Review, the peer-reviewed journal of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.
https://www.thetraumatherapistproject.com/podcast/organized-sexual-abuse-dr-michael-salter/

Organized abuse in adulthood: Survivor and professional perspectives
October 2019
DOI: 10.4324/9781351213981-13
In book: The Abused and the Abuser (pp.199-211)
Authors: Michael Salter UNSW Sydney
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338868934_Organized_abuse_in_adulthood_Survivor_and_professional_perspectives

Malignant trauma and the invisibility of ritual abuse
June 2019 DOI: 10.33212/att.v13n1.2019.16
Authors: Michael Salter UNSW Sydney
Abstract
This article draws on psychoanalytic theories of malignant trauma to explain the invisibility of ritual abuse. Ritual abuse refers to the misuse of rituals in the organised sexual abuse of children. Despite expanded recognition of the varieties of child maltreatment, ritual abuse remains largely invisible outside the trauma and dissociation field as a specific form of sexual exploitation. Presenting qualitative data from interview research with ritual abuse survivors and mental health specialists, this article argues that the trauma of ritual abuse and its invisibility are co-constitutive. The perpetration and denial of ritual abuse occur within a relational matrix of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders structured by the presymbolic dread of vulnerability and dependency. The simultaneity of perpetration and disavowal creates the conditions for the malignancy of ritual abuse, including the invisibility of victims and the intergenerational transmission of extreme abuse. The article examines how the provision of care to ritual abuse survivors can become contingent on its erasure, and reflects on the role of therapists and others in interrupting the metastases of malignant trauma and crafting cultural and moral frameworks to transform the dread at the core of ritual abuse.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337804310_Malignant_trauma_and_the_invisibility_of_ritual_abuse

Cultures of Abuse: ‘Sex Grooming’, Organised Abuse and Race in Rochdale, UK
June 2015 International Journal for Crime Justice and Social Democracy 4(2)
DOI: 10.5204/ijcjsd.v4i2.211
Authors: Michael Salter UNSW Sydney Selda Dagistanli Western Sydney University
Revelations of organised abuse by men of Asian heritage in the United Kingdom have become a recurrent feature of international media coverage of sexual abuse in recent years. This paper reflects on the similarities between the highly publicised ‘sex grooming’ prosecutions in Rochdale in 2012 and the allegations of organised abuse in Rochdale that emerged in 1990, when twenty children were taken into care after describing sadistic abuse by their parents and others. While these two cases differ in important aspects, this paper highlights the prominence of colonial ideologies of civilisation and barbarism in the investigation and media coverage of the two cases and the sublimation of the issue of child welfare. There are important cultural and normative antecedents to sexual violence but these have been misrepresented in debates over organised abuse as racial issues and attributed to ethnic minority communities. In contrast, the colonialist trope promulgating the fictional figure of the rational European has resulted in the denial of the cultural and normative dimensions of organised abuse in ethnic majority communities by attributing sexual violence to aberrant and sexually deviant individuals whose behaviours transgress the boundaries of accepted cultural norms. This paper emphasises how the implicit or explicit focus on race has served to obscure the power dynamics underlying both cases and the continuity of vulnerability that places children at risk of sexual and organised abuse.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281229060_Cultures_of_Abuse_’Sex_Grooming’_Organised_Abuse_and_Race_in_Rochdale_UK

Reducing Shame, Promoting Dignity: A Model for the Primary Prevention of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Recommended citation: Salter, M. & Hall, H. (2021) Reducing Shame, Promoting Dignity: A Model for the Primary Prevention of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Trauma Violence Abuse, forthcoming.
The recent inclusion of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) into the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 11th revision is the culmination of over twenty five years of research and clinical practice. Since the early 1990s, it has been proposed that a complex variant of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be differentiated from classical PTSD by alterations in affect and behavioral regulation, interpersonal problems, dissociative symptoms, and somatizations (Herman, 1992). As clinical scholarship and research into CPTSD has developed, it has been linked to concepts of developmental and attachment trauma, recognizing the aetiological role of early onset abuse and neglect, and associated disruptions in the child-caregiver bond (Farina, Liotti, & Imperatori, 2019). Parallel scholarship into adverse childhood experiences links child-onset trauma to major social and public health challenges, including common mental and physical illnesses, entrenched poverty and criminality (Lambert, Meza, Martin, Fearey, & McLaughlin, 2017). In light of the evidence of the public health burden of CPSTD, Ford (2015) argues for population-level interventions to reduce the prevalence of CPTSD, otherwise “vulnerable individuals and entire populations are at risk for becoming trapped in intergenerational vicious cycles escalating danger, disadvantage, and dysregulation” (p 3).
https://www.academia.edu/44436007/Reducing_Shame_Promoting_Dignity_A_Model_for_the_Primary_Prevention_of_Complex_Post_Traumatic_Stress_Disorder

Perspective
Speaking out about child sexual abuse within the family
As France continues to grapple with how a top academic who allegedly sexually abused his stepson for years was able to act with impunity, we speak to Michael Salter, Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He says coercive sexual relationships with children were “the dark side of the sexual revolution” and that it’s vital to understand that sexual abuse of minors happens across all sectors of society. “Child sexual abuse is a public health crisis,” he tells us.
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/perspective/20210201-speaking-out-about-child-sexual-abuse-within-the-family

https://twitter.com/mike_salter
Michael Salter
@mike_salter
“Recovered memory therapy” does not refer to an actual therapy. It’s a pejorative term invented by “false memory” advocate Richard Ofshe in 1993. Nobody has ever trained in or practiced RMT because it doesn’t exist, except in the fevered imaginations of false memory advocates.

'I have been quiet for 50 years': standing up against sexual abuse at Celtic Boys Club

 'I have been quiet for 50 years': standing up against sexual abuse at Celtic Boys Club

 

Many of the perpetrators have been jailed for their crimes. Now a number of survivors and their families claim that officials at Celtic knew about the sexual abuse and did nothing

 

by Henry McDonald

Tue 20 Oct 2020 01.00 EDT

....“We started going to Torbett’s flat, which was then a high rise on Pinkston Drive in Glasgow,” Woods recalled. “One night after training, two of us were helping out, encasing football medals in small plastic covers.

 

“He had asked us to put on our football shorts while we worked, and then invited us to lie down for a rest in his bed. I was 13 at the time. I remember lying in the middle of the bed and then Torbett getting into bed with us. He suddenly put his left hand down my shorts. I recall that I was terrified, but for some reason I could not get away. I was frozen there at that spot. There was a sick feeling in my stomach over what had just happened.”

Woods says Torbett exercised tremendous power over the boys. He could decide their future as players or rejects – a position he cynically exploited. “I was frightened to say anything to Torbett because the dream of playing for Celtic was still there, even though here I was all of a sudden in this nightmare. He could put the fear of God into you. I went home that evening and never said a word to anyone about it. When I went along to the next training session, Torbett acted as if nothing had happened at all.”

 

Celtic Boys Club was at the time regarded as the elite youth football side in Scotland, and a potential entry into life as a full-time professional for thousands of young players. But for more than two decades it was also a magnet for paedophiles. At least six men connected with the Celtic Boys Club have come under investigation for sexually assaulting boys between the late 1960s and the early 90s. Three of them have been convicted and have served prison sentences.

 

Now 21 of survivors are bringing a civil case against the club, which will be heard next year. The litigants include at least one prominent ex-Celtic player, and former professional players for other Scottish Premiership sides and Scotland’s national team. They are seeking damages from the parent club, which they claim had “corporate responsibility” for child grooming, assaults and rape by men with longstanding connections to Celtic Park. The survivors and their families believe the leadership of the club knew about the abuse and did nothing about it. They also allege that Torbett was dismissed from the Boys Club in 1974 following accusations of abuse, but was allowed back into the club after four years, where he continued to work with young boys.

 

Celtic’s official response is that none of this abuse was linked in any way with the parent club, and that the Boys Club was a separate legal entity. Survivors say this denial has added to their trauma and claim this is typical of the club’s attitude: had the parent club listened to the voices of survivors from early on, the abusers’ reign would not have lasted so long.

 

...In October 1996, Jim Torbett was arrested after a series of stories in the Daily Record, the Herald and BBC Scotland exposed his history of sexually abusing young players. He was jailed for two years in 1998 for abusing three young players, including Alan Brazil, at the Celtic Boys Club between 1967 and 1974. Following his release, Torbett was still a wealthy man. He moved to California, where a BBC investigations team tracked him down to ask him about other allegations of abuse. Within hours of that programme being broadcast, on 2 May 2017, US homeland security escorted Torbett to LAX airport. He was flown back to the UK and then arrested in Scotland.

Andy Gray’s testimony was among those used to help convict Torbett of a second round of crimes against three boys. Jailing Torbett for six years in November 2018, the trial judge Lo rd Beckett told him: “You used the club as a front for child sexual abuse.”

 

Michelle Gray believes the parent club at Celtic Park bears responsibility for failing to prevent Torbett’s crimes. “I just want to confront the people who failed my brother. Because if Celtic had kept Torbett away from that club between 1986 to 1994, then Andy’s life and the lives of other boys would not have been ruined,” she said.

 

....Torbett’s 2018 conviction triggered a string of further allegations against senior figures in the Celtic Boys Club. Among other abusers at the Boys Club was teacher Gerald King. In early 2019, King was given a three-year probation order for sexually abusing four boys and a girl at a Scottish school in the 80s. King was convicted of “lewd and libidinous practices”, which included taking a photo of naked boys in the shower, between August 1984 and April 1989.

Last year, Celtic Boys Club’s former kit man, Jim McCafferty, 73, pleaded guilty to 12 charges relating to sexual abuse involving 10 boys between 1972 and 1996. Four of his victims played for the Boys Club, and others played for youth teams he ran in North Lanarkshire. He was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison. At the time of his conviction, McCafferty was already serving a prison sentence for the sexual abuse of a boy in Belfast.

 

The web of abuse goes further. Police Scotland are now seeking the extradition of another man associated with the Boys Club who is living in east Asia. The football scout Bill Kelly started targeting hopeful young players at clubs across Scotland in the late 60s, and was eventually convicted of abusing 12 young boys in 1987. One of Bill Kelly’s victims, Bill Storrie, was abused while playing for the West Lothian boys club Uphall All Saints in the late 60s. Storrie believes there needs to be an independent inquiry to investigate links between paedophiles working in Scotland during the 60s and 70s, and one of British sport’s most notorious child sexual abusers, the English football coach Barry Bennell.

 

In February 2018, Bennell, a former coach at Crewe Alexandra, was found guilty of 36 child sexual offences. He was jailed for 31 years for a total of 50 offences against 12 boys, and further convictions have followed, including some just this month, taking the total of known victims to 22. Given that he had worked at four different English clubs – Crewe, Manchester City, Stoke City and Leeds United – as well as having contacts with Scottish teams including Celtic Boys Club, the real number of his victims may still be far higher. Storrie is aware of a claim by one former youth player in Scotland that he was “trafficked” down to Bennell by the Celtic kit man Jim McCafferty....

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/oct/20/child-sexual-abuse-at-celtic-boys-club-jim-torbett

 

Rebuttals of “Satanic Panic” Theory and “False Memory Syndrome”

Rebuttals of “Satanic Panic” Theory and “False Memory Syndrome”

Judith Herman: “In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure no one listens.” Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Grey Faction, Satanic Temple and Lucien Greaves Fact Sheet:
https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/grey-faction-satanic-temple-and-lucien-greaves-fact-sheet/
(Information on a modern proponent of “Satanic Panic” theory)

“The Discourse of Disbelief”
Sarah Nelson MA PhD, Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2020-conference/dr-sarah-nelson-the-discourse-of-disbelief/

Flaws in satanic panic theory

In my book (Nelson, 2016), I describe numerous flaws in satanic panic theory which had to be either unnoticed or ignored. In summary:

• There WAS no widespread panic – most professionals and lay people remained unaware of these disclosures and behaviours. Only a small, often isolated minority of police, psychiatrists and counsellors, journalists, child protection professionals and foster parents had encountered them, and most of their own colleagues were sceptical of their belief.

• Nothing could be further from the truth than the claim that professionals and random feminists pursued satanic abuse theory with passion or zeal.

That anyone would actually want to find it, or would be pleased and zealous in pursuit, was bitterly laughable. Even for people experienced in working with CSA, it was the worst, most disorienting and traumatising knowledge in the world, challenging all your beliefs and your assumptions about human beings. Ritual abuse cases also brought many professionals considerable fears for their personal safety.

• The scapegoats and folk devils in classic moral panic theory (Cohen, 2002) should have been the accused adults. Instead they have been the professionals who took children into care, and/or publicly professed a belief that ritual abuse existed.

• Another essential feature of ‘moral panics’ in classic sociological theory is that these are promoted, carried and encouraged by the media. But most media, after a brief flurry of salacious interest, became not supportive but hostile in their coverage of ritual abuse. Most media have supported accused parents and adults with standing in their communities.

• The verbal disclosures, actions and behaviours of children and adults abused in ritual settings were so baffling, so esoteric and so unlike content previously heard that it would be incredibly difficult or impossible generate these words, actions and behaviour through pressured interviewing techniques by, for instance social workers. It was in fact the foster parents of children taken into care in both Nottingham (England) and Orkney (Scotland), not professionals, who produced by far the most evidence of children’s bizarre statements, drawings and actions. These were ordinary people who were baffled and disturbed by what they witnessed and heard from the children placed in their care.

• People, including journalists, lost their critical faculties. For instance, on Orkney claims were spread that one ‘born-again’ Christian basic grade social worker, CF, influenced Orkney and Strathclyde social work departments and police into jointly carrying out the dawn raids on four families with children. This was implied too in BBC Scotland TV’s ludicrous ‘faction’ drama Flowers of the Forest (BBC2, 1996). Both ignored the simple fact that a basic grade social worker had no power, influence or status to achieve this far-reaching joint action by police and social workers, which was authorised from top level!

Flaws in false memory syndrome theory

‘Satanic panic’ theory has an interconnection with the false memory movement. For Michael Salter, the rhetorical importance for false memory syndrome of ‘satanic ritual abuse’, and the chance this gave to ridicule allegations of CSA, is shown by the term being found in 140 of 144 newsletters of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (Salter, 2013). FMS has been one of the most influential backlash theories of recent decades. Uncritically promoted through most media for many years, it is still propounded today, even though the FMSF recently collapsed (see French, 2014).

• FMS was invented in the early 1990s, as a new psychiatric condition, by accused adults, mainly middle-class professional men whose adult children had accused them, sometimes after recovering memories. That in itself should have attracted the strongest critical scrutiny. Do we normally accept the theories of people accused of the very crimes they dismiss? I don’t think so!

• The alcoholic FMSF founder Peter Freyd had no qualifications or expertise on memory, trauma or psychology, while his daughter Jennifer was a respected professor of psychology. (Freyd, 1996)

• There was no scientific basis for false memory syndrome, no studies confirming it, yet there were numerous studies confirming that traumatic amnesia could occur, not just in sexual abuse but for instance in conflict trauma, and in concentration camp experiences.

• False memories of sexual abuse were allegedly put into the heads of gullible, mentally unwell women by therapists, using dubious techniques, unreasonable pressures or even brainwashing, though the techniques were not specified. These women supposedly found it comforting to blame their mental ill health, their troubles or inadequacies on the explanation of sexual abuse in childhood. However, disclosing sexual abuse is not easy or comforting at all. The experience of CSA exposes people to social stigma, shame, disbelief, deeply confused loyalties, the pain of betrayal, often by people they loved and trusted most, and possible court cases where they may be vilified and dismissed. Hence many survivors take decades to disclose, while others never do so. Instead, Harvey and Herman (1994) suggest that recovering memories is so agonising that survivors hold on to denial for as long as possible.

• Many of the accusers had retained memories of their abuse, or corroboration of their abuse, long before they went to a therapist at all.

Why were these fabrications so tempting to believe, so relatively easy for abusers and their support lobbies to erect them, and for them to remain potent?

The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology, and the Sexual Abuse of Children by Ross E. Cheit
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-13384-000

Abstract

The sexual abuse of children in the United States became national news in February 1984 with allegations about the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California. The case, once considered the largest “mass molestation” case in history, ended without a single conviction. Since then, it has become the conventional wisdom that the McMartin case, and hundreds of other cases in that era, were nothing more than witch-hunts. These cases are now seen as compelling evidence that children are “highly suggestible” and that society was in the grips of “hysteria.”

Based on a comprehensive examination of primary sources, The Witch-Hunt Narrative challenges the conventional wisdom about these cases. Ross E. Cheit uses trial transcripts and related court documents to demonstrate that many of the cases at the core of the witch-hunt narrative involved compelling evidence of abuse. He focuses on three major cases while also surveying dozens more, including some that involved injustice to the defendants. He finds that in many cases the conventional wisdom is significantly overdrawn.

Cheit’s years of research also revealed a history of minimizing and denying abuse, and a surprisingly lenient response to many child molesters. Those trends continue into the present, where there are pockets of; overreaction to sexual abuse in a sea of under-reaction. Cheit concludes with a consideration of recent events, including the Catholic Church cases, the Sandusky case at Penn State, and issues concerning sex offender, registration and civil commitment. He argues that progress in social responses to sexual abuse notwithstanding, there are still unjustified attacks on the credibility of children and on child-abuse ‘ professions, from forensic interviewers to pediatric child-abuse specialists.

This powerful book shows how a narrative based on empirically thin evidence became a theory with real social force, and how that theory stood at odds with the grim reality of sexual abuse. The Witch-Hunt Narrative is a magisterial account of the social dynamics that led to the denial of widespread human tragedy.

Satanic Panic Quotes
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/satanic-panic

” Indeed, Scott (2001) notes with irony that the writings of those who claimed that ‘satanic ritual abuse’ is a ‘moral panic’ had many of the features of a moral panic: scapegoating therapists, social workers and sexual abuse victims whilst warning of an impending social catastrophe brought on by an epidemic of false allegations of sexual abuse.” Michael Salter, Organised Sexual Abuse

““Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the confabulation of testimony of ‘satanic ritual abuse’ legitimated a programme of political and social action designed to contest the gains made by the women’s movement and the child protection movement. In efforts to characterise social workers and therapists as hysterical zealots, ‘satanic ritual abuse’ was, quite literally, ‘made fun of’: it became the subject of scorn and ridicule as interest groups sought to discredit testimony of sexual abuse as a whole. The groundswell of support that such efforts gained amongst journalists, academics and the public suggests that the pleasures of disbelief found resonance far beyond the confines of social movements for people accused of sexual abuse. These pleasures were legitimised by a pseudo-scientific vocabulary of ‘false memories’ and ‘moral panic’ “
― Michael Salter, Organised Sexual Abuse

“Calling something a ‘moral panic’ does not imply that this something does not exist or happened at all and that reaction is based on fantasy, hysteria, delusion and illusion or being duped by the powerful.”
― Stanley Cohen, Folk Devils and Moral Panics

“The above is stereotypical FMS rhetoric. It employs a formulaic medley of factual distortions, exaggerations, emotionally charged language and ideological codewords, pseudo-scientific assertions, indignant protestations of bigotry and persecution, mockering of religious belief, and the usual tiresome “witch hunt” metaphors to convince the reader that there can be no debating the merits of the case. No matter what the circumstances of the case, the syntax is always the same, and the plot line as predictable as a 1920’s silent movie. Everyone accused of abuse is somehow the victim of overzealous religious fanatics, who make unwarranted, irrational, and self-serving charges, which are incredibly accepted uncritically by virtually all social service and criminal justice professionals assign to the case, who are responsible for “brainwashing” the alleged perpetrator or witnesses to the crime. This mysterious process of “mass hysteria” is then amplified in the media, which feeds back upon itself, which finally causes a total travesty of justice which the FMS people in the white hats are duty-bound to redress.” – Pamela Perskin Noblitt, Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social, and Political Considerations

An Empirical Look at the Ritual Abuse Controversy
Randy Noblitt, PhD
https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/an-empirical-look-at-the-ritual-abuse-controversy-randy-noblitt-phd/
” I hypothesize that patients who make ritual abuse allegations appear to be genuinely traumatized. In a study comparing 34 adult psychiatric patients making ritual abuse allegations with 31 patients making no such allegations, I found that the group making ritual abuse allegations had significantly higher PTSD scores on the MMPI-2 (Noblitt, 1995). In their study of preschool ritualistic and non-ritualistic sexual abuse, Waterman, Kelly, Olivieri, and McCord, (1993) demonstrated that PTSD criteria were met for 80% of their sample of ritualistically sexually abused children as compared with 35.7% of the non-ritualistically sexually abused children.

The hypothesis that ritual abuse allegations are essentially false and the result of suggestibility and social influence has been propounded by a number of individuals (Mulhern, 1991, 1994; Ofshe& Waters, 1994; Spanos, 1996). However, this hypothesis appears to be based on subjective opinion and speculation rather than any research findings. It has never been shown that people who report ritual abuse are particularly suggestible. It has also never been demonstrated that therapists with such patients attempt to persuade their patients to believe that they were ritually abused.”

The Rise and Fall of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation
Kate McMaugh, MHSc & Warwick Middleton, MD
https://news.isst-d.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-false-memory-syndrome-foundation/

“Underwager, one of the founding members of the FMSF and an original Board member, who made substantial amounts of money acting as an expert witness for the defence in child sexual abuse cases, was arguably the most controversial. When he became involved in the formation of the FMSF, he was already well known for his views against child protection, as one of the founders of VOCAL – which stood for Victims of Child Abuse Laws, a support group for people who claimed to be falsely accused. He had already famously stated in the media and in court that 60% of women sexually abused in childhood reported that the experience was ‘good for them’.

Underwager gave evidence for the defence in over 200 child sexual abuse cases in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia. Psychologist, Anna Salter published a scholarly demolition of his published systematic misrepresentations on the subject. Underwager filed several unsuccessful law suits against Salter. Her exploration of the ethical issues surrounding the work of Underwager and Wakefield, and their harassment of her is well worth reading (Salter, 1998).

(Confessions of a Whistle-Blower: Lessons Learned by Anna C. Salter – Ethics & Behavior, Volume 8, Issue 2 June 1998 , pages 115 – 124 https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/confessions-of-a-whistle-blower-lessons-learned/ ))

In 1993, together with his wife, Board Member Hollida Wakefield, Underwager gave an interview to the Dutch pro-paedophilia magazine, Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia.

Underwager famously proclaimed, “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.’”

As a result of the Paidika interview Underwager was forced to resign from the FMSF Board, but Wakefield remained as a Board member. “

“Doubtless, there will continue to be attacks on those who report child abuse, regardless of whether the memories are ‘recovered’ or not. While cultural and political pressure to doubt the testimony of women and children who report sexual abuse pre-dates the FMSF, it goes without saying that the ‘false memory’ movement enabled society to ignore a whole new generation of abused children. We do not want this to happen again and it is vital we reflect on our history and are well-prepared for backlash.”

False Memory Syndrome – Child Abuse Wiki
https://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=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]

Recovered Memories
https://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories
Recovered memories have been defined as the phenomenon of partially or fully losing parts of memories of traumatic events, and then later recovering part or all of the memories into conscious awareness. They have also been defined as the recollections of memories that are believed to have been unavailable for a certain period of time[1]. There is very strong scientific evidence that recovered memories exist.[2] This has been shown in many scientific studies. The content of recovered memories have fairly high corroboration rates.

New York State vs. Harvey Weinstein
The Danger Behind the “False Memory” Myth
February 6, 2020
https://timesupfoundation.org/the-danger-behind-the-false-memory-myth-2/

“The bottom line: Current evidence shows “false memory theory” to be “scientifically inaccurate, damaging to survivors, and unhelpful to the public.” Here’s why.

“False Memory Syndrome” has Never Been Ratified by the American Psychological Association or Any Other Mainstream Psychological Diagnostic System as an Actual Diagnosis
Never — not after 30 years of trying.”

““False Memory Theory” is a Tool to Discredit Survivors of Sexual Trauma
“False memory” gives a pseudoscientific name to the trope that survivors somehow develop entirely new memories of sexual assaults that never happened. That’s not how memory works — but it is how perpetrators of sexual violence have worked to deny accountability.
Pioneering psychologist Dr. Jennifer Freyd has found that perpetrators of sexual assault often “Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender,” a phenomenon she calls “DARVO.”

“The reality is that most scientific research shows traumatic events of all kinds are often cemented in a person’s memory. And current research shows that memories of sexual assault are even more vivid than memories of other sorts of traumas, such as car accidents.”

Amish "culture of incest, rape, and abuse," Epstein database "subjecting underage girls to unlawful sexual conduct, sex trafficking and forced labor," Survivorship announces the speakers at their Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2020 Conference - Dr. Randy Noblitt, Pamela Perskin Noblitt, Dr. Karol Darsa, Neil Brick and Cristina Mardirossian LMFT

 

- The Amish Keep to Themselves. And They’re Hiding a Horrifying Secret 52 official cases of Amish child sexual assault in seven states over the past two decades. 

 

- Jeffrey Epstein used database to keep track of his ‘numerous’ victims

“Epstein used his wealth and power to create the Epstein Enterprise which engaged in a pattern of criminal activity in the Virgin Islands by repeatedly procuring and subjecting underage girls and young women to unlawful sexual conduct, sex trafficking and forced labor”

 

- Survivorship announces the speakers at their Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2020 Conference - Dr. Randy Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt, Dr. Karol Darsa, Neil Brick and Cristina Mardirossian, LMFT  

"regular conference will be on Saturday and Sunday May 16 - 17, 2020, Clinician's Conference is Friday May 15, 2020, conference is at the Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Center in Pacific Palisades, California.

https://survivorship.org/ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2020-conference/

 

 

The Amish Keep to Themselves. And They’re Hiding a Horrifying Secret

 

A year of reporting by Cosmo and Type Investigations reveals a culture of incest, rape, and abuse.
By Sarah McClure Jan 14, 2020

 

....By age 9, she says, she’d been raped by one of her older brothers. By 12, she’d been abused by her father, Abner*, a chiropractor who penetrated her with his fingers on the same table where he saw patients, telling her he was “flipping her uterus” to ensure her fertility. By 14, she says, three more brothers had raped her and she was being attacked in the hayloft or in her own bed multiple times a week. She would roll over afterward, ashamed and confused. The sisters who shared Sadie’s room (and even her bed) never woke up—or if they did, never said anything, although some later confided that they were being raped too.

 

Sadie’s small world was built around adherence to rules—and keeping quiet was one of them. “There was no love or support,” she says. “We didn’t feel that we had anywhere to go to say anything.”

 

....It wasn’t until now that Sadie decided to speak up, to reveal the darkness beneath the bucolic surface of her childhood. She’s tired of keeping quiet.

Over the past year, I’ve interviewed nearly three dozen Amish people, in addition to law enforcement, judges, attorneys, outreach workers, and scholars. I’ve learned that sexual abuse in their communities is an open secret spanning generations. Victims told me stories of inappropriate touching, groping, fondling, exposure to genitals, digital penetration, coerced oral sex, anal sex, and rape, all at the hands of their own family members, neighbors, and church leaders.

 

....In my reporting, I identified 52 official cases of Amish child sexual assault in seven states over the past two decades. Chillingly, this number doesn’t begin to capture the full picture. Virtually every Amish victim I spoke to—mostly women but also several men—told me they were dissuaded by their family or church leaders from reporting their abuse to police or had been conditioned not to seek outside help (as Sadie put it, she knew she’d just be “mocked or blamed”). Some victims said they were intimidated and threatened with excommunication. Their stories describe a widespread, decentralized cover-up of child sexual abuse by Amish clergy.

 

“We’re told that it’s not Christlike to report,” explains Esther*, an Amish woman who says she was abused by her brother and a neighbor boy at age 9. “It’s so ingrained. There are so many people who go to church and just endure.”

....There’s no one reason for the sexual abuse crisis in Amish Country. Instead, there’s a perfect storm of factors: a patriarchal and isolated lifestyle in which victims have little exposure to police, coaches, or anyone else who might help them; an education system that ends at eighth grade and fails to teach children about sex or their bodies; a culture of victim shaming and blaming; little access to the technology that enables communication or broader social awareness; and a religion that prioritizes repentance and forgiveness over actual punishment or rehabilitation. Amish leaders also tend to be wary of law enforcement, preferring to handle disputes on their own.

 

....When the police and social workers later showed up on her doorstep, most likely after being tipped off by a local non-Amish person, Abner told authorities that “things which we were speaking about had been brought up and dealt with in the church,” according to a police detective’s notes. He also silenced his daughters. “You say nothing,” Sadie and another relative remember him demanding.

 

....It’s common for Amish victims to be viewed by the community as just as guilty as the abuser—as consenting partners committing adultery, even if they’re children. Victims are expected to share responsibility and, after the church has punished their abuser, to quickly forgive. If they fail to do so, they’re the problem.

 

When the rare case does end up in court, the Amish overwhelmingly support the abusers, who tend to appear with nearly their entire congregations behind them, survivors and law enforcement sources say. This can compound the trauma of speaking out. “We’ve had cases where there’ll be 50 Amish people standing up for the offender and no one speaks for the victim,” says Stedman.

 

....Lizzie’s is not the only account of an Amish victim being taken to an alleged “mental health” facility staffed by Amish or Mennonites (a similar, although typically less strict, group) that provides Bible-based counseling—and, in many cases, is not state licensed. Several years ago, Esther was sent to a facility for “counseling” after she tried to seek help for another Amish woman who was being sexually assaulted. When she protested, church leaders threatened to excommunicate her permanently.

 

No one would tell her why she was there. Instead, she was pressured to sign papers that would allow staff to communicate directly with her ministers, she says (she eventually gave in and signed). “From the first evening, they wanted to put me on medication,” she recalls. She said no, since “a lot of these people who get stuck in these facilities come home drugged and no longer have a life. They’re zombies.” (She’s aware of about 30 other Amish sexual assault victims, including two of her sisters, who have been sent away to such facilities.)

....Still, as more and more women start to come forward, an ecosystem has also risen up to help them. Two years ago, Lizzie, who has long since left the Amish, and another former Amish woman named Dena Schrock launched Voices of Hope, a group for abused women. Lizzie met Sadie at one such gathering, and they’re now friends.

Others find solidarity in The Plain People’s Podcast, a show launched in 2018 that features stories of Amish and Mennonite sexual abuse. Jasper Hoffman, a former Mennonite and the podcast’s cohost, says she receives “hundreds of messages” from people wanting to share stories or get help reporting an abuser.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a30284631/amish-sexual-abuse-incest-me-too/

 

Jeffrey Epstein used database to keep track of his ‘numerous’ victims
By Priscilla DeGregory and Gabrielle Fonrouge January 15, 2020

 

Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein kept a harem of abused and trafficked girls as young as 11 that was so large he needed a computer system to keep track of them, according to a new lawsuit filed Wednesday against his estate.

 

The civil lawsuit, filed by Virgin Islands’ Attorney General Denise George, also alleges Epstein abused victims on his private Caribbean islands, Little Saint James and Great St. James, as recently as 2019 — expanding the scope of his abuse by 14 years.

 

“Epstein used his wealth and power to create the Epstein Enterprise which engaged in a pattern of criminal activity in the Virgin Islands by repeatedly procuring and subjecting underage girls and young women to unlawful sexual conduct, sex trafficking and forced labor,” the lawsuit reads. “This complaint describes intentional conduct so egregious, persistent, and injurious that it shocks the conscience and offends a civilized society.”

 

The lawsuit reiterates much of what’s already known about Epstein’s alleged decades of abuse but brings to light a new detail on how he used computer databases to keep track of his victims, and how his private islands were the “perfect hideaway and haven” for trafficking and abusing young women and underage girls....

“As recent as 2018, air traffic controllers and other airport personnel reported seeing Epstein leave his plane with young girls, some of whom appeared to be between the age of 11 and 18 years,” the papers say.

The suit argues Epstein ran a decades-long sex trafficking scheme from his private Caribbean estates where minors were “lured and recruited” to travel by helicopter, plane and boat to the islands under fradulent promises and were then raped and abused by Epstein and his associates, the papers say.

 

Epstein promised the girls modeling contracts or told them they’d be paid “substantially” to provide massages — a ruse that brought the victims close to Epstein, who’d then pressure and coerce them into engaging in sex acts, the suit states.

https://nypost.com/2020/01/15/jeffrey-epstein-used-database-to-keep-track-of-his-numerous-victims/

 

Survivorship announces the speakers at their Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2020 Conference - Dr. Randy Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt, Dr. Karol Darsa, Neil Brick and Cristina Mardirossian, LMFT

 

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif., Jan. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The regular conference will be on Saturday and Sunday May 16 - 17, 2020 and the Clinician's Conference is Friday May 15, 2020.

 

https://survivorship.org/ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2020-conference/

 

The conference will be at the Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Center in Pacific Palisades, California.

 

This conference provides attendees the opportunities to learn about severe abuse research and resources.

 

Conference Speakers will include:

 

Dr. Karol Darsa will speak about the 5 Common Mistakes in Trauma Treatment - She will discuss how trauma treatment is becoming one of the top areas to specialize in and how it is important to have proper training to work with unprocessed trauma to achieve good outcomes for clients. Dr. Karol Darsa, licensed psychologist and founder and executive director of Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Center. She has about 20 years of clinical and administrative experience in trauma and mental health disorders.

 

Dr. Randy Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt will speak about Extreme Abuse Survivors, Social Security Benefits, and Ethical Practice - They will discuss how many trauma survivors have debilitating psychological and physical symptoms that prevent them from maintaining gainful employment. This workshop is intended to provide an introduction to SSA requirements for healthcare providers and survivors. Randy Noblitt is a clinical psychologist and professor of clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University, Los Angeles. Pamela Perskin Noblitt is a non-attorney claimants representative for individuals applying for SSDI and SSI benefits. 

 

Neil Brick will speak about Misinformation Campaigns Against Survivors. He will discuss how child and ritual abuse survivors and their advocates have been attacked by misinformation campaigns the last several years. Neil Brick is a survivor of ritual abuse and mind control. His child abuse and ritual abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. https://ritualabuse.us  has been published for over 24 years. http://neilbrick.com 

 

Cristina Mardirossian, LMFT will discuss Identifying the Personality Systems of Mind Control Survivors and Trauma Treatment - She will talk about how therapists are increasingly starting to see that many of their clients have histories of complex and chronic abuse. Cristina Mardirossian is the owner and director of Pasadena Trauma Therapy, Inc. Cristina is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Pasadena, CA.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/survivorship-announces-the-speakers-at-their-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2020-conference---dr-randy-noblitt-and-pamela-perskin-noblitt-dr-karol-darsa-neil-brick-and-cristina-mardirossian-lmft-300988096.html 

 

Fighting the Good Fight Against Online Child Sexual Abuse " the internet provides enormous cover for sexual predators"

Fighting the Good Fight Against Online Child Sexual Abuse                 

"The sites managed to survive so long because the internet provides enormous cover for sexual predators."

Several websites popular with sexual predators were thwarted last month after a determined campaign by groups dedicated to eliminating the content. It was a rare victory in an unending war.
By GABRIEL J.X. DANCE DEC. 23, 2019

In late November, the moderator of three highly trafficked websites posted a message titled “R.I.P.” It offered a convoluted explanation for why they were left with no choice but to close.

The unnamed moderator thanked over 100,000 “brothers” who had visited and contributed to the sites before their demise, blaming an “increasingly intolerant world” that did not allow children to “fully express themselves.”

In fact, forums on the sites had been bastions of illegal content almost since their inception in 2012, containing child sexual abuse photos and videos, including violent and explicit imagery of infants and toddlers.

The sites managed to survive so long because the internet provides enormous cover for sexual predators. Apps, social media platforms and video games are also riddled with illicit material, but they have corporate owners — like Facebook and Microsoft — that can monitor and remove it.

In a world exploding with the imagery — 45 million photos and videos of child sexual abuse were reported last year alone — the open web is a freewheeling expanse where the underdog task of confronting the predators falls mainly to a few dozen nonprofits with small budgets and outsize determination.

Several of those groups, including a child exploitation hotline in Canada, hunted the three sites across the internet for years but could never quite defeat them. The websites, records show, were led by an experienced computer programmer who was adept at staying one step ahead of his pursuers — in particular, through the services of American and other tech companies with policies that can be used to shield criminal behavior.

But the Canadian hotline developed a tech weapon of its own, a sophisticated tool to find and report illegal imagery on the web. When the sites found the tool directed at them, they fought back with a smear campaign, sending emails to the Canadian government and others with unfounded claims of “grave operational and financial corruption” against the nonprofit.

It wasn’t enough. The three sites were overwhelmed by the Canadian tool, which had sent more than 1 million notices of illegal content to the companies keeping them online. And last month, they were compelled to surrender.

“It’s been a wonderful 7 years and we would’ve loved to go for another 7,” the sites’ moderator wrote in his final post, saying they had closed because “antis,” short for “anti-pedophiles,” were “hunting us to death with unprecedented zeal.”

The victory was cheered by groups fighting online child sexual abuse, but there were no illusions about the enormous undertaking that remained. Thousands of other sites offer anybody with a web browser access to illegal and depraved imagery of children, and unlike with apps, no special software or downloads are required.

The three shuttered sites had hidden their tracks for years using the services of Cloudflare, an American firm that provides companies with cyberprotections. They also found a hosting company, Novogara, that gave them safe harbor in the Netherlands — a small country with a robust web business and laws that are routinely exploited by bad actors.

Cloudflare’s general counsel said the company had cooperated with the nonprofits and law enforcement and cut ties with the sites seven times in all, as they slightly altered their web addresses to evade targeting. A spokesman for Novogara said the company had complied with Dutch law....

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/22/us/child-sex-abuse-websites-shut-down.html

Two Satan worshiping middle school girls plotted to kill fellow students, Dozens of clergy sex abuse victims waiting on answers about compensation

 

-  Two Satan worshiping middle school girls plotted to kill fellow students and drink their blood

-  Dozens of clergy sex abuse victims waiting on answers about compensation

Two Satan worshiping middle school girls plotted to kill fellow students and drink their blood

New York Daily News Brian Niemietz Oct 24th 2018

 

Two satanic knife-wielding school girls were arrested in central Florida, where cops say they were hiding in a bathroom waiting for smaller students to walk in so they could kill them and “leave body parts at the entrance” before taking their own lives. The goal was to murder 15 classmates.

 

Bartow Police Department thwarted the bizarre plot after a middle school resource office caught wind of the girls’ intentions, according to CBS.

A teachers at Bartow Middle School reportedly heard on Monday that one of the girls, an 11-year-old, had warned another student to avoid a certain area of the campus when she came to class Tuesday....

 

According to police, that’s when the girls confessed to the plan. Both were said to have been armed with cutlery including a butcher’s knife and a pizza cutter. They “were planning in attacking and killing as many students as possible.”

Hall said the girls wanted to kill “at least” 15 people.

 

“Both students stated they are practicing satanists,” Hall said. He added, “They made comments they were willing to drink blood and possibly eat flesh.”....

The girls’ cell phones corroborated the plan.

 

“Today is health lessons. Thank Satan we are doing this in a bit,” one girl texted the other.

 

The girls are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, weapon possession and disruption of a school function....

 

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/10/24/two-satan-worshiping-middle-school-girls-plotted-to-kill-fellow-students-and-drink-their-blood/23570847/

 

Dozens of clergy sex abuse victims waiting on answers about compensation
Jenn Schanz Oct 24, 2018

 

News 4 has learned that at least 54 local clergy sex abuse victims are still waiting on a substantive response from the Buffalo Diocese regarding their claims for compensation through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, or IRCP.

 

The program was announced several months ago, after the Buffalo Diocese released the names of 42 priests accused of child sexual abuse.

 

The list was published after a South Buffalo man, Michael Whalen, went public with his story of alleged abuse as a child at the hands of Fr. Norbert F. Orsolits.

Since then, several other victims have come forward and News 4 has reported on at least a dozen additional priests being put on administrative leave following accusations of abuse.

 

The Diocese has said a new, updated list will be released in the near future, but has not said when exactly it will be released, or how many names will be on it....

 

We were referred back to the Diocese's website on the program. We asked the Diocese how many victims they have responded to; we are still waiting on a response.

 

"They have in all likelihood, hundreds of survivors who are waiting and have been waiting for months and months since the deadline to even know if they're eligible for the program. And that's something that's really hard when this is an institution that already failed them," Reck told News 4....

 

https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/dozens-of-clergy-sex-abuse-victims-waiting-on-answers-about-compensation/1546925553