Satanic ritual sexual abuse of children prosecutions: Radley Balko links them with a wave of panic over the Dungeons and Dragon's game in the 1980's..."But it was part of a larger fear of and obsession with “Satanism” and the occult that began in the 1970s, then flourished in the 1980s and early 1990s. (This Time cover story from 1972 was one of the earliest and most amusing clips from the media’s contribution to the panic.) That larger trend did have some pretty devastating fallout, particularly within the criminal justice system. It spurred dozens, perhaps hundreds, of wrongful prosecutions of adults for alleged Satanic ritual sex abuse of children that never occurred. (For a relic from that era, check out this incredible Chicago Tribune report.) Fear of the occult was behind the prosecution of the West Memphis Three and played into the death sentence given to Cameron Todd Willingham, a man most now believe was innocent." (Must Read. HL);

POST: The 'D and D' panic, by Radley Balko, published on his website 'The Watch' by the Washington Post, on April 27, 2016. (Radley Balko blogs about criminal justice, the drug war and civil liberties for The Washington Post. He is the author of the book "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces.")


GIST: "Great short video from Retro Report on the great Dungeons & Dragons panic of the 1980s. The direct consequences of this particular moral panic weren’t as severe as some others. It mostly involved efforts to ban the game and, of course, led to ostracizing the kids who played it. (Not a small thing, given that, as the video points out, these kids tended not to fit in to begin with.) But it was part of a larger fear of and obsession with “Satanism” and the occult that began in the 1970s, then flourished in the 1980s and early 1990s. (This Time cover story from 1972 was one of the earliest and most amusing clips from the media’s contribution to the panic.) That larger trend did have some pretty devastating fallout, particularly within the criminal justice system. It spurred dozens, perhaps hundreds, of wrongful prosecutions of adults for alleged Satanic ritual sex abuse of children that never occurred. (For a relic from that era, check out this incredible Chicago Tribune report.) Fear of the occult was behind the prosecution of the West Memphis Three and played into the death sentence given to Cameron Todd Willingham, a man most now believe was innocent."

 

The entire column can be found at:
 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2016/04/27/the-dd-panic/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com;

Harold Levy;