Fighting the Spin The Truth about Child Abuse Cases
Ritual Abuse Conference CDs _http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/_
(http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/)
(http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/)
from
_http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2010-conference/fighting-the-spin-the-truth-about-child-abuse-cases/_
(http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2010-conference/fighting-the-spin-the-truth-about-child-abuse-cases/)
copied with permission
describes crimes
Transcript of Conference Presentation
Neil Brick is a survivor of Masonic based Ritual Abuse. He is the editor
of S.M.A.R.T. – A Ritual Abuse Newsletter. His topic is: Fighting the
Spin : The Truth about Child Abuse Cases
The address for S.M.A.R.T. is P O Box 1295, Easthampton, MA 01027 USA,
E-mail: smartn...@aol.com
In the last 20 years, many child abuse and ritual abuse cases have been
made public. Almost all of these have been subjected to media campaigns and
spin by organizations and researchers skeptical of the existence of ritual
abuse. These groups have done whatever they can to make sure that only
their view on the topic is heard and that ours is not allowed to be made
public.
We discuss this at our website on a page called “False memory syndrome
proponents tactics”
_http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/false-memory-syndrome-proponents-tactics/_
(http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/false-memory-syndrome-proponents-tactics/)
This presentation will briefly review some of the more famous child abuse
cases and present the perspective of the victims of these crimes, not the
perspectives of the alleged or convicted perpetrators or those defending
them. Information for this presentation is taken from the following websites.
Day Care and Child Abuse Cases
This page has information on the McMartin Preschool Case, Michelle
Remembers, the Fells Acres – Amirault Case, the Wenatchee, Washington Case,
the
Dale Akiki Case, the Glendale Montessori – Toward case, the Little Rascals
Day Care Center case, Fran’s Day Care case, the Baran case, the Halsey case
and the West Memphis 3 case._
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/_
(http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/)
McMartin Preschool Case – What Really Happened and the Coverup_
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/mcmartin-preschool-case-what-really-happene
d-and-the-coverup/_
(http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/mcmartin-preschool-case-what-really-happened-and-the-coverup/)
Another interesting case that won’t be discussed today is at:
Fran’s Day Care_
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/frans-day-care/_
(http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/frans-day-care/)
The presentation will close with a discussion of the blacklisting of
several ritual abuse pages at Wikipedia and the deletion of information at
Wikipedia from the victims perspectives of these crimes.
_http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/ritualabuse-us-blacklisted-by-wikipedia/_
(http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/ritualabuse-us-blacklisted-by-wikipedia/)
As many here know, Wikipedia and other Internet pages are controlled by
those skeptical to many of the well proven ritual abuse and child crimes and
those posting information at Wikipedia from the victim’s perspectives have
been harassed by editors at Wikipedia or even banned from Wikipedia.
SMART has been advocating that survivors and co-survivors do not use
Wikipedia as a resource until these articles are made more balanced and fair.
Michelle Remembers
The book “Michelle Remembers“ by Michelle Smith and Lawrence Pazder, MD
was one of the first account of ritual abuse crimes. Because of its
influence, it has been one of the most attacked accounts, even being called “
fiction” by some. Those defending the book have been attacked online.
In “A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER” pages xi – xiii” in the book, the
publisher Thomas B. Congdon, Jr clearly shows how the accounts of the book
were
scrutinized and how experienced interviewers talked to several people
involved in her childhood. Dr. Pazder’s strong credentials were also
discussed in
detail.
And I quote “Two experienced interviewers journeyed to Victoria and talked
to Dr. Pazder’s colleagues, to the priests and the bishop who became
involved in the case, to doctors who treated Michelle Smith when she was a
child, to relatives and friends. From local newspaper, clergy, and police
sources they learned that reports of Satanism in Victoria are not infrequent
and
that Satanism has apparently existed there for many years. Satanism in
Western Canada flourished in many areas with activities far more ominous than
some of the innocuous groups now found in parts of the United States who
claim some connection with Satanism. The source material was scrutinized. The
many thousands of pages of transcript of the tape recordings that Dr.
Pazder and Michelle Smith made of their psychiatric sessions were read and
digested; they became the basis of this book. The tapes themselves were
listened
to in good measure, and the videotapes made of some of his sessions were
viewed. Both the audio and video are powerfully convincing. It is nearly
unthinkable that the protracted agony they record could have been fabricated.”
Yet, this is ignored by skeptics and attempts to get this information onto
certain Internet pages has been blocked. Skeptical accounts from a Pagan
website and an article from a tabloid instead are considered fact by
skeptics attacking the article. One article skeptical of Michelle’s stories
states
her father’s opinion that her abuse didn’t happen apparently backs the
fact her story was false. Of course, perpetrators and other family members
often do deny that there is abuse in their families.
In a research study called “Sexual Abuse in Day Care: A National Study –
Executive Summary – March 1988? – Finklehor, Williams, Burns, Kalinowski “
The study identified 270 “cases” of sexual abuse in day care meaning 270
facilities where substantiated abuse had occurred involving a total of 1639
victimized children….This yielded an estimate of 500 to 550 reported and
substantiated cases and 2500 victims for the three-year period. Although
this is a large number, it must be put in the context of 229,000 day care
facilities nationwide service seven million children….allegations of ritual
abuse (“the invocation of religious, magical or supernatural symbols of
activities”) occurred in 13% of the cases.” The authors divided these cases
into
“true cult-based ritual,” pseudo-ritualism” with a primary goal of sexual
gratification and ritual being used to intimidate the children from
disclosing and “psychopathological ritualism” the activities being “primarily
the expression of an individuals obsessional or delusional system.” _ http:/
/www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED292552.pdf_
(http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED292552.pdf)
McMartin
The most famous child abuse and ritual abuse case in the United States is
the McMartin preschool case.
This case has had books and even a movie written about it. Unfortunately,
almost all of these were all from a skeptical perspective and the victims’
perspectives of the case have been hidden from the public for years. The
case is written off by many skeptics as a case of false accusations, often
using the propaganda term “witch hunt” to describe the case. Skeptics paint
the case as being started by a mentally ill women and then they attempt to
build a case of false memory implantation.
Yet, there is much more to the case than this. For one of the initial
parents that brought the case to the police, Judy Johnson, there is no
evidence
she suffered from any form of mental illness when she brought the claims
to the police after a doctor stated her son was sodomized and later her son
named one of the workers at the pre-school as his perpetrator. There were
allegations that she was later harassed after these allegations were made
and that these and her drinking alcohol may have caused her later
psychological problems.
The case went on for many years and was very complex, with hung juries and
mistrials. yet it is written off by skeptics as simply being a case of
false accusations.
At the press conference following the trial, 9 of the 11 jurors who agreed
to be interviewed indicated that they believed the children had been
molested, but they felt that the evidence presented did not enable them to
state
beyond a reasonable doubt who had perpetrated the abuse.” (Behind the
Playground Walls – Sexual Abuse in Preschools from an L A Times article)
One of the major skeptical books about the case was written by the Eberle’
s. The Eberle’s are alleged to be former child pornographers. Our website
has a lot of information on this case.
Fells Acres – Amirault Case
Another famous case, that occurred in the Eastern United States is the
Fells Acres – Amirault Case. This is another case written off by skeptics as
a miscarriage of justice. It was even used recently against a Democratic
politician running for Senate in a recent election in Massachusetts. Yet,
members of both the Republican and Democratic parties have backed the
conviction of Gerald Amirault. Even his victims as adults have gone public in
the
last decade to verify that they were abused. And Amirault lost every appeal
he had. This case has been spun by a variety of media outlets.
The prosecutor of the case, Hardoon, stated “in Amirault, the majority of
the female children who testified had some relevant physical findings, as
did several female children involved in the investigation who did not
participate in the trial. The findings included labial adhesions and hymenal
scarring of the sort present in avery small percentage of non-sexually abused
children.”
One of the trial transcripts states “All nine children testified in a
broadly consistent way…The children testified to numerous instances of sexual
abuse. Some of the children testified that they were photographed during
this abuse, describing a big camera with wires, a red button, and pictures
which came out of the camera. The children testified that the defendant
threatened them and told them that their families would be harmed if they told
anyone about the abuse….The Commonwealth also presented a pediatric
gynecologist and pediatrician who examined five of the girls who testified…She
made
findings consistent with abuse in four of the girls.”
The victims stated in “Mass. Victims Fight Commutation Plea” By Leslie
Miller, Associated Press Writer “During counseling meetings as a child, I
would speak of a tall man touching me and taking pictures of me,” Phaedra
Hopkins, 20, said at an emotional news conference. “So many times, Mr.
Amirault hovered over me, touched me and hurt me and committed many disgusting
acts of abuse.” ….“This family raped me, molested me and totally ruined my
life,”said Jennifer Bennett, who was 3 1/2 years old when she started at
Fells Acres. “We weren’t coaxed. We weren’t lying. We’re telling the truth
and we always will,” said Bennett, 22. “I was there. None of you were
there. We weren’t coaxed, nor were we ever ever ever brainwashed.”Brian
Martinello, 21, said he was sexually abused by Amirault. His mother, Barbara
Standke, claims her son came home from the day care with sores on his genitals
and other people’s underwear. “I think it’s an absolute disgrace to let
anyone out of prison for such a disgusting crime,” Martinello said.
A Republican governor decided against the commutation of Amirault’s
conviction: Governor explains Amirault decision Says she needed to ‘live with
myself’ By Douglas Belkin and Frank Phillips, Globe Staff, 2/21/2002 Swift
said. ”I concluded after that review that the jury and the Supreme [Court]
decisions should be upheld and that under the commutation guidelines
commutation was not warranted,” Swift said…Swift said her staff conducted ”a
more
exhaustive review of all of the legal aspects” than the (parole) board did.
West Memphis 3
The last case I will discuss is the West Memphis 3 case. This case has
been in the media for many years. Some skeptics paint the case as three
innocent boys that were caught up in the hysteria of a small town and
convicted
simply for the reason that they were different than others in their town.
But is this really the case? The trial transcripts and other accounts show
something different. The case included a confession of one of three boys.
Some state the confession was coerced, others that it was not. One of the
boys, Echols, bragged to others that he had killed the three young boys.
Echols had a history of mental illness with allegations of violent acts toward
others. Yet, none of the skeptical accounts I have read discuss these. A
second boy, Baldwin, supposedly told another boy he had committed the murders
also. Yet, this is written off by skeptics in apart because the other boy
was an alleged drug addict and was not seen with Baldwin. Of course, none
of this proves that Baldwin’s discussion with the boy did not occur. There
was also evidence that the crime was committed as an occult crime. The case
is very complex and ongoing and I recommend that people visit our website
for more information.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is one place where skeptics of most child abuse and ritual abuse
crimes control the content of the related pages.
In July, 2009, Wikipedia blacklisted the following important websites on
ritual abuse:_ http://abusearticles.wordpress.com_
(http://abusearticles.wordpress.com/) _ http://extreme-abuse-survey.net_
(http://extreme-abuse-survey.net/) _ http://ritualabuse.us_
(http://ritualabuse.us/) _
http://endritualabuse.org_ (http://endritualabuse.org/)
People had been trying to get balancing information into Wikipedia
articles on ritual abuse and child abuse topics without success. The first web
page listed above had copies of trial transcripts of several cases. Once these
web pages were blacklisted, almost all of this information was deleted
from Wikipedia.
People had also been trying to get information about the Extreme Abuse
Surveys into Wikipedia and other websites, also without success. The Extreme
Abuse Surveys have even been attacked by members of supposedly sympathetic
organizations. Those unfamiliar with this excellent preliminary study may
want to visit their website. Over one thousand survivors replied to this
survey to discuss extreme abuse and ritual abuse crimes.
There are allegations that Wikipedia got its financial start from an
organization called Bomis, which it is believed got much of its money from
X-rated pornography.
See_
http://eassurvey.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/wikipedophilia-wikipedia-child-abuse-misinformation-clergy-abuse-suit/_
(http://eassurvey.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/wikipedophilia-wikipedia-child-abuse-misinformation-clergy-abuse-
suit/)
There are also allegations that Wikimedia (Wikipedia’s parent company)
contained child pornography.
_http://eassurvey.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/pedophiles-find-a-home-on-wikipedia/_
(http://eassurvey.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/pedophiles-find-a-home-on-wikipedia/)
Articles on this can be found at foxnews.com and childlaw.us online.
Other problems with Wikipedia include anonymous editors (meaning that
anyone with any bias may be editing Wikipedia) and articles that are not
always
fact checked. Even their general discalimer states:
WIKIPEDIA MAKES NO GUARANTEE OF VALIDITY_
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer)
“Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed
by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate
or reliable information.”
“However, Wikipedia cannot guarantee the validity of the information found
here. The content of any given article may recently have been changed,
vandalized or altered by someone whose opinion does not correspond with the
state of knowledge in the relevant fields.”
“Wikipedia is not uniformly peer reviewed; while readers may correct
errors or engage in casual peer review, they have no legal duty to do so and
thus all information read here is without any implied warranty of fitness for
any purpose or use whatsoever.”
Yet, Wikipedia ranks very high in search engines, even with all of these
serious problems with its information. I recommend that survivors find more
accurate sources of information and not use Wikipedia.
The real question is why these and other cases are simply painted as
miscarriages of justice when at times there is overwhelming evidence these
crimes were committed, even when those convicted lost all of their appeals.
This
is obviously part of the backlash against child abuse survivors. Some
people in the world do not want to believe that these type of things happen in
the world. Yet they do.
The important thing is to make sure that the victim’s sides of the story
are heard. To get their versions of the story out to as many people as
possible, so that those responsible for these crimes will continue to be held
accountable and so that when children are raped in day care and other
settings they will be believed. Make sure you read all of the above websites,
familiarize yourself with all of these cases and tell everyone you know about
these crimes.
We need to be our own advocates. If enough of us speak up, we will be
heard.
