The document analyzes 12 American day care cases from 1983 to 1991 where satanic ritual abuse was alleged. Over 650 children were identified as victims across the 12 cases. Allegations included rituals involving blood drinking, cannibalism, and human sacrifice. While investigations initially focused on sexual abuse, satanic ritual abuse elements emerged later through questioning. 28 people were criminally charged, with 15 found guilty and receiving long sentences. However, 12 of the 15 guilty verdicts were later overturned on appeal. The document concludes that while the cases sparked international controversy, they provide little clarity on whether satanic ritual abuse is real or rumor, but set an agenda for further research and discussion on the issue.

1. Satanic Ritual Abuse
in Day Care:
An Analysis of
12 American Cases
Between 1983 and 1991, over 100 day care centres across
America
were investigated for satanic ritual abuse of children. These
bizarre
cases were widely reported in Great Britain as well as other
countries around the world, where American experts played a
signi®cant role in disseminating material about the cases in
workshops and seminars. Using news articles, investigative
reports,
interview transcripts, legal briefs and court transcripts, this
paper
analyses a sample of 12 of those cases. It examines the nature of
the
allegations, the victims, the perpetrators, the criminal trials and
the
outcome of the cases. The major ®nding of this analysis is that
these
day care cases actually contribute little to the debate about
whether
satanic ritual abuse is real or rumour, but they do set an agenda
for
the international child abuse professional community for
research,
practice and discussion. *c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Child Abuse Review 6: 84±93, 1997

2. No. of Figures: 1. No. of Tables: 2. No. of References: 15
KEY WORDS: satanic ritual abuse; day care centres
T he term `satanic ritual abuse' was coined in Americajust over
a decade ago to describe what is believed to be
the widespread sexual, physical and emotional abuse of very
young children in satanic ceremonies. The term gave a name
to disturbing reports that were cropping up across the
country. Children were describing abuse in rituals that
included such horri®c practices as blood-drinking, cannibal-
ism and human sacri®ces conducted by robed and hooded
satanists who also happened to be their day care providers.
The day care cases were widely reported in Great Britain
where, according to Jenkins (1992), they introduced profess-
ionals to the idea of satanic ritual abuse. That idea certainly
was given substance by American experts, who disseminated
`indicator lists' to identify ritually abused children, as well as
CCC 0952±9136/97/020084±10$17.50 Accepted 17 December
1996
*c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Child Abuse Review Vol. 6: 84±93 (1997)
`Children were
describing abuse
in rituals'
Mary deYoung�
Professor of Sociology
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, Michigan

3. USA
�Correspondence to: Dr M. deYoung, Department of Sociology,
245 AuSable Hall,
Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI 49401, USA. Tel:
616-895-3428.
Fax: 616-895-3735. E-mail: [email protected]
reams of material on satanic holidays, symbols and rituals,
in workshops conducted across Great Britain. Some of these
American experts also played signi®cant roles in the
satanic ritual abuse cases that were later identi®ed there
(LaFontaine, 1994). Although those cases were not usually
set in day care facilities, nursery schools or among organized
childminders like they were in America, the American
in¯uence on the spread of the idea of satanic ritual abuse
in Great Britain, as well as other countries around the world,
cannot be denied (Barnett and Hill, 1993; deYoung, 1996;
McGovern, 1994; Werkgroep Ritueel Misbruik, 1994).
In whatever country they occur, and in whatever setting,
satanic ritual abuse cases create controversy. That contro-
versy has deeply a�ected the international child abuse
professional community as well, dividing it into `believers'
at one extreme, `disbelievers' at the other and leaving many
others somewhere in the middle, still confused and uncertain
about the nature and meaning of these cases. Yet, regardless
of the position any child abuse professional takes on this
divisive issue, the fact remains that the American day care
cases are the origin of the very idea of satanic ritual abuse.
Despite the pivotal role they have played in the development
and spread of this international controversy, however, little
scholarly attention has ever been paid to them.
The purpose of this article is to redress that oversight. It

4. analyses a sample of 12 of the more than 100 satanic ritual
abuse day care cases that occurred in America and concludes
with a discussion of the major ®nding of this analysisÐthat
the American day care cases actually contribute little, if
anything, to the ongoing debate about whether satanic ritual
abuse is real or rumour, but they do set an agenda for
research, productive discussion and good practice.
Sample of 12 Cases
For the purposes of this article, a day care case was included
in the sample if it met all of the following criteria:
1. An investigation led to one or more arrests, followed by a
verdict in a criminal trial, a guilty plea or a dismissal of
charges during the trial;
2. Allegations of satanic ritual abuse, that is, of abuse carried
out during ceremonies in the worship of Satan, were actively
investigated and publicly reported, even if they were not
introduced into trial;
3. There are su�cient archival data in the form of local and
national
news articles, investigative reports, interview transcripts, legal
briefs and court transcripts to assess the case.
`Satanic ritual
abuse cases create
controversy'
`The American

5. day care cases
set an agenda
for research,
productive
discussion and
good practice'
Satanic Ritual Abuse 85
*c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol.
6: 84±93 (1997)
Information that further identi®es the 12 cases in the sample
is presented in Table 1.
Satanic Ritual Abuse Allegations
Each of the 12 day care centres in the sample became a target
of investigation when a statement made by a young child gave
rise to suspicions of sexual abuse, as opposed to satanic ritual
abuse. These initiating statements varied in clarity, but none
was a spontaneous and unambiguous disclosure that also
identi®ed the perpetrator. These disclosing children ranged
in age from 2 to 6 years, with a mean age of 3.6 years
(SD 1.19). Seven were girls and ®ve were boys. In 11 of the
cases, the initiating statement was made to a parent, in one to
a therapist. The archival data reveal that eight of the 12
disclosing children did not repeat the allegation of sexual
abuse upon being formally interviewed the ®rst time.

6. Satanic ritual abuse elements did not emerge in any of the
cases until several weeks or even months after the sexual
abuse investigation was launched and, in each case, only after
the complaining child had named other children at the centre
as victims of sexual abuse as well. There is often disagree-
ment in the archival data as to whether these satanic ritual
abuse elements were spontaneously disclosed by the children
during their frequent interviews with investigators, thera-
pists and even their own parents, or were elicited by direct
questions that were probative for them.
Once the satanic ritual abuse elements of each case
emerged, a great deal of investigative e�ort, therapeutic
intervention and news media attention was focused on them.
Therefore, the satanic ritual abuse features alleged in each
case and their recurrence in subsequent cases can be tracked
in the archival data. Figure 1 shows the frequency of the most
often mentioned features in the sample of 12 cases.
`Eight of the 12
disclosing children
did not repeat the
allegation of
sexual abuse'
Table 1. Day care centre, year of investigation initiation,
location and
region of sample of 12 cases
Day care centre Year Location Region

7. McMartin 1983 Manhattan Beach, California Paci®c Coast
Country Walk 1984 Miami, Florida South Atlantic
Small World 1984 Niles, Michigan Midwest
Fells Acres 1984 Malden, Massachusetts New England
Georgian Hills 1984 Memphis, Tennessee East South Central
Craig's Country 1985 Clarksville, Maryland East Atlantic
Felix's 1985 Reno, Nevada Mountain
East Valley 1985 El Paso, Texas Southwest
Old Cutler 1989 Miami, Florida South Atlantic
Little Rascals 1989 Edenton, North Carolina Southeast
Faith Chapel 1989 San Diego, California Paci®c Coast
Fran's 1991 Austin, Texas Southwest
86 deYoung
*c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol.
6: 84±93 (1997)
`Approximately
650 children were
identi®ed as
victims in the
12 day care cases'
Other reported features of satanic ritual abuse can only be
referred to as original in that they are alleged in only a single
case, often by a single child, and are not described in any of
the published or unpublished literature. These include rape
by a lobster, a space alien, a chainsaw, and in a secret city
under the ocean; surgical removal and reattachment of

8. eyeballs; being cooked in a microwave oven; and being
murdered and brought back to life.
Victims
Approximately 650 children were identi®ed as victims in the
12 day care cases in the sample, over half of them in the
McMartin case alone. Only a small percentage of these
children were named as victims in the criminal indictments,
however, as many were deemed too young, too traumatized
or too unbelievable to give competent testimony in court.
Of those children named in the indictments, only a small
percentage went on to testify in the criminal trials. The
McMartin case is illustrative of this steady diminution of
child witnesses: 369 children were identi®ed by evaluating
therapists as victims, 41 testi®ed before the grand jury that
issued the criminal indictments against the day care pro-
viders and 14 testi®ed in the trial (Fukurai, Butler and
Krooth, 1994).
To protect the children in these cases, the archival data do
not provide su�cient demographic information, such as
gender, race, family structure or socioeconomic status, to
facilitate analysis of the victims. Because investigations
focused on current and recent pupils at the centres in the
Figure 1. Frequency of most often reported features of satanic
ritual abuse in the sample of 12 American day
care cases.
Satanic Ritual Abuse 87
*c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol.
6: 84±93 (1997)

9. sample, however, it is reasonable to conclude that most of the
children who were identi®ed as victims ranged in age from
2 to 6 years.
Perpetrators
In addition to their day care providers, the child victims in
these 12 cases speci®cally named over 200 other adults as
perpetrators of satanic ritual abuse. Some of those named
worked at, or were a�liated with the respective centre; others
were local people, some of them prominent, and others still
had no a�liation with the centre or even with the city in
which the case occurred. The criminal investigations elimin-
ated many as suspects, but others were never seriously under
suspicion because investigators judged it highly improbable,
even impossible, that they had anything at all to do with the
case. Included in that latter group were the ministers, police
o�cers, professional baseball players and ®lm stars named by
the children in the various cases.
The investigations concentrated, instead, on the day care
providers. In the 12 cases in the sample, a total of 28 people
were criminally indicted and faced trial: 26 of them were
teachers, aides or administrators; two had no a�liation with
the centre in question. Seventeen of the defendants were
female and 11 were male. Two were African-American, four
were Latino and the remaining 22 were white. They ranged
in age at the time of arrest from 14 to 61 years, with a
mean age of 35.6 years (SD 12.77). It should be noted that
the 14-year-old defendant was still legally a minor when
arrested, but was waived to adult court to stand trial.
Outcome of the 12 Cases
To date, 22 of the 28 defendants have been tried in criminal

10. courts; 15 were found guilty, ®ve not guilty and two had all
charges dropped during the actual trial when children
retracted their allegations on the witness stand. Three of
the remaining defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges;
and three more have not yet gone to trial.
In slightly less than half of the criminal trials, some or all
of the child witnesses testi®ed via closed-circuit television.
This quite recent courtroom procedure is not without
controversy (Montoya, 1995), but its use in cases where the
child witnesses would be so traumatized by open court
testimony as to be rendered unable to communicate was
upheld by the US Supreme Court in the case of Craig's
`Children who
were identi®ed as
victims ranged in
age from 2 to 6
years'
`In slightly less
than half of the
criminal trials
child witnesses
testi®ed via
closed-circuit

11. television'
88 deYoung
*c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol.
6: 84±93 (1997)
`The McMartin
trial was the
longest criminal
trial in the history
of America'
`Sentences
imposed for the
15 defendants
found guilty
tended to be
very long'
`12 of the 15 guilty
verdicts were
successfully

12. appealed'
Country Day Care. In a 5±4 decision, it ruled that `a state's
interest in the physical and psychological well-being of child
abuse victims may be su�ciently important to outweigh, at
least in some cases, a defendant's right to face his or her
accusers in court' (Maryland v. Craig, 1990).
Under a hearsay exception, parents were allowed to testify
in each of these criminal trials about what their children had
told them about abuse at the centre. They were also allowed
to testify about the psychological and behavioural sequelae
of the abuse their children experienced. Much of that testi-
mony, as well as corroborating testimony by the therapists
who evaluated and/or treated the children, took the form
of comparing the children's symptoms to those recorded
on the widely disseminated satanic ritual abuse `indicator
lists'.
Very little in the way of corroborative material evidence
was presented in any of the day care trials. Therefore, both
prosecuting and defence attorneys were forced to rely heavily
on expert witnesses, who variously testi®ed about the
reliability of the medical evidence, the anticipated sequelae
of satanic ritual abuse, the validity of the interviewing
techniques that elicited the allegations and the psychological
pro®le of the satanic day care provider.
The criminal trials tended to be long in duration, ranging
from 2 to 560 court days, with a mean of 92.6 court days
(SD 157.4). They were also expensive. The McMartin
trial, which, at 560 court days, was the longest criminal
trial in the history of America, was also the most expensive,
at $13 million (Shaw, 1990); the Faith Chapel trial cost
$2.3 million (Granberry, 1993), the Small World trial

13. $250 000 (Lengel, 1985). Regardless of cost, juries inevitably
were confronted with scores of witnesses, contradictory
expert testimony, hundreds of exhibits and thousands of
pages of transcripts. Jury deliberations in the day care trials
ranged from 4 to 270 hours, with a mean duration of 32.5
hours (SD 67.30) before the verdicts were announced.
Sentences imposed for the 15 defendants found guilty
tended to be very long; in one case, in fact, the longest ever
imposed on a defendant in the history of the state. Because
sentencing policies vary from one American state to another,
it is not possible to reliably calculate an average sentence for
the 15 day care providers who were found guilty. Table 2,
however, displays the verdict and the sentence for each of the
defendants in the 12 day care cases in the sample.
As Table 2 also shows, 12 of the 15 guilty verdicts were
successfully appealed. The grounds for the appeals varied
from one case to the other, but aside from procedural errors
Satanic Ritual Abuse 89
*c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol.
6: 84±93 (1997)
in the trial, the three most common grounds for successful
appeal were the improper admission of lay testimony about
the sequelae of abuse from the parents of the children; the
violation of the defendant's constitutional right to confront
his or her accuser due to the use of closed-circuit television,
videotaped testimony or the segregation of the children in
the courtroom; and the use of interview techniques that were
ruled too leading and suggestive to ensure that the children's
testimony was untainted.

14. Table 2. Disposition details for 28 defendants in the sample of
12 American day care cases
Day care centre
(defendant's initials) Verdict Sentence
McMartin
(RB) Not guilty ÐÐ
(PB) Not guilty ÐÐ
Country Walk
(FF) Guilty 6 life terms
(IF) Pleaded guilty 10 years
Small World
(RB) Guilty 50±75 years. Conviction overturned; pleaded guilty
to lesser
o�ence in lieu of retrial, 5 years probation
Fells Acres
(GA) Guilty 30±40 years
(VA) Guilty 8±20 years. Conviction overturned, retrial ordered
(CL) Guilty 8±20 years. Conviction overturned, retrial ordered
Georgian Hills
(BS) Charges dropped in trial ÐÐ
(JS) Not guilty ÐÐ
(FB) Guilty 5±35 years. Conviction overturned, charges
dropped
Craig's Country
(SC) Guilty 10 years. Conviction overturned, charges dropped
(JC) Charges dropped in trial ÐÐ

15. Felix's
(MF) Guilty 3 life sentences. Conviction overturned, charges
dropped
(FO) Guilty Life. Conviction overturned, charges dropped
East Valley
(MN) Guilty Life plus 311 years. Conviction overturned,
retried,
not guilty verdict
(GD) Guilty 20 years. Conviction overturned, charges dropped
Old Cutler
(BF) Not guilty ÐÐ
Little Rascals
(RK) Guilty 12 life sentences. Conviction overturned, new trial
ordered
(EK) Pleaded guilty 7 years suspended sentence
(DW) Guilty Life. Conviction overturned, new trial ordered
(WP) Pleaded guilty 10 years suspended sentence
(RB) ÐÐ ÐÐ
(SS) ÐÐ ÐÐ
(DH) ÐÐ ÐÐ
Faith Chapel
(DA) Not guilty ÐÐ
Fran's
(FK) Guilty 48 years
(DK) Guilty 48 years
90 deYoung
*c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol.
6: 84±93 (1997)

16. `The analysis
cannot answer
whether it was a
satanic conspiracy'
`The analysis of the
American satanic
ritual abuse day
care cases does not
resolve the debate'
Major Finding and Recommendations
The purpose of this article was to present and analyse data on
a sample of 12 American day care cases. The major ®nding of
this analysis is that the cases actually contribute little, if
anything, to the ongoing debate within the international
child abuse professional community about whether satanic
ritual abuse is a terrible reality or a ruinous rumour.
That ®nding is at least somewhat ironic, especially given
the pivotal role these cases have played in originating the
very idea of satanic ritual abuse and disseminating it around
the world, but it is grounded in the fact that the analysis
cannot convincingly support one extreme position in the
reality±rumour debate over the other. For example, the data

17. on the wide array of satanic ritual abuse features reported by
the children, their gradual and contradictory disclosures over
time and the absence of evidence corroborating their
allegations could be interpreted as support for the position
that satanic ritual abuse is traumatizing in ways that more
common types of child abuse are not, and that a satanic
conspiracy eradicated all evidence of its very real crime.
Those very same data, however, could also be interpreted as
support for the position that the children's allegations had to
be formed and shaped over time by professionals who
assumed a rumour was real and then found it so frightening
that they hurried these cases into court without waiting to
accumulate corroborative evidence.
The analysis simply cannot answer whether it was a
satanic conspiracy that targeted young children in day care
centres or a cultural connivance, but it does show that the
cost of trying to prove satanic ritual abuse real has been very
high indeed. That cost is most easily measured in ®nancial
terms. Both the criminal investigations and the trials of the
day care providers in the 12 sample cases were extra-
ordinarily expensive and, given the fact that most of the
guilty verdicts have now been overturned, wastefully so. But
another kind of cost can be inferred from, if not calculated in,
the analysis: the stress experienced by the children and their
families over the years these cases dragged on, the often
irreparable schisms within the communities where they
occurred, the damaged reputations of professionals involved
in them, and the lingering fear that at least some of these
children really may have experienced some more ordinary
type of abuse that was overlooked in the attempt to prove
satanic ritual abuse.
If the analysis of the American satanic ritual abuse day care
cases does not resolve the debate that the cases themselves

18. Satanic Ritual Abuse 91
*c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol.
6: 84±93 (1997)
`The American
satanic ritual
abuse day care
cases reveal
much about the
challenges still
facing the
international child
abuse professional
community'
originated, then does the analysis bring anything of value to
this controversy? It does make two contributions. First, it
can be added to a small but signi®cant body of international
professional opinion and literature that insists that the
attempts to prove satanic ritual abuse real have functioned,
however unintentionally, to detract attention from more
common forms of child abuse and to obfuscate the investi-
gation and substantiation of organized and systematic forms
of child abuse within a variety of settings (Armstrong, 1994;

19. Bottoms, Shaver and Goodman, 1996; Clapton, 1993).
Second, the analysis sets out an agenda for the international
child abuse professional community for research, discussion
and practice. It shows the necessity for the evaluation of the
common practice of investigative or disclosure interviews
with children, and for more research as to how the develop-
mentally based suggestibility of young children in¯uences
their responses to interviewers, as well as the nature of their
disclosures. The analysis also shows the necessity for
securing a strong link to the scienti®c method and to critical
thinking so that the kinds of materials and information that
will in¯uence practice can be thoroughly assessed. Finally,
the analysis demonstrates the need for an ongoing and
collegial discussion, not just about the controversial satanic
ritual abuse cases, but about the relationship between the
work of child abuse professionals around the world to the
particular culture in which it is conducted and to the
ideological forces unique to that culture.
When all is said and done, the American satanic ritual
abuse day care cases may reveal little about the very controv-
ersy they started, but much about the challenges still facing
the international child abuse professional community.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank Tammy Niven for her
excellent assistance in the collection of data on the sample
day care cases.
References
Armstrong, L. (1994). Rocking the Cradle of Sexual Politics.
Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.

20. Barnett, J. and Hill, M. (1993). When the devil came to Christ-
church. Australian Religion Studies Review, 6, 25±30.
Bottoms, B.L., Shaver, P.R. and Goodman, G.S. (1996).
An analysis of ritualistic and religion-related child abuse
allegations. Law and Human Behavior, 20, 1±34.
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6: 84±93 (1997)
Clapton, G. (1993). The Satanic Abuse Controversy. University
of
North London Press, London.
deYoung, M. (1996). Satanic ritual abuse: exploring the contro-
versies. Paper presented at the 11th International Congress on
Child Abuse and Neglect, Dublin.
Fukurai, H., Butler, E.W. and Krooth, R. (1994). Sociologists in
action: the McMartin sexual abuse case, litigation, justice, and
mass hysteria. American Sociologist, 25, 2±44.
Granberry, M. (1993). Case illustrates ¯aws in child abuse
trials:
Dale Akiki's acquittal was a stinging rebuke to the system that
arrested and tried him. Los Angeles Times, Nov. 29, A-3.
Jenkins, P. (1992). Intimate Enemies: Moral Panics in Contem-
porary Great Britain. Aldine deGruyter, Hawthorne, New York.
LaFontaine, J.S. (1994). The Extent and Nature of Organised
and

21. Ritual Abuse. HMSO, London.
Lengel, A. (1985). A nightmare in Niles. Michigan: The
Magazine
of the Detroit News, May 19, 13±14�.
Maryland v. Craig (1990). 497 US 836, 853±855.
McGovern, C. (1994). The Martensville witch-hunt. Alberta
Report/Western Report, March 7, 48±52.
Montoya, J. (1995). Lessons from Akiki and Michaels on shield-
ing child witnesses. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 1,
340±369.
Shaw, D. (1990). Reporter's early exclusives triggered a media
frenzy. Los Angeles Times, Jan. 20, A-1.
Werkgroep Ritueel Misbruik (1994). Rapport van Werkgroep
Ritueel Misbruik. Ministerie van Justitie, The Hague.
Satanic Ritual Abuse 93
*c 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Child Abuse Review Vol.
6: 84±93 (1997)
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22. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
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CJ 240 Deviance and Social Control
Moral Panics
Mary deYoung
What is a moral panic?
Term “moral panic” – coined by Stanley Cohen (1972)
Collective response,
generated by unsettling social strain
and incited and spread by interest groups,
towards ppl who are actively transformed into folk devils
and then treated as threats to dominant social interests and
values
Features of a Moral Panic
use highly emotive claims and fear based appeals
Orchestrates cultural consent
“something must be done quickly”
This results in a call for increased social control
preserves and reasserts the values and interests that are being
undermined by the folk devils
Moral panic – serves a distinct stabilizing function at a time of
unsettling social strain
Deviancy Amplification Spiral
increasing cycle of media reporting on a category of antisocial
behavior or other undesirable events

23. Deviance Amplification Spiral
Begins with deviant act
Mass media reports on this newsworthy act
New focus on the issue uncovers borderline instances that
would not be newsworthy EXCEPT that they “prove” the pattern
Info (like stats) that would show the general public that the
issue is less common or harmful tends to be ignored
Minor problems begin to look serious and rare events appear
common
Public concern about the crime forces LE and CJS to devote
more resources (than warranted) to the act
Judges and lawmakers pass stiffer sentences in response to
public pressure
All of this tends to convince the public that any fear was
justified
Media continue to profit by reporting on police and LE activity
Examples of Moral Panics
Backmasking
Dungeons and Dragons
Myspace and predators
Jelly Bracelets
McCarthyism
Rainbow parties
Witch-hunt
SRA

24. 80s – day care providers charged with satanic ritual abuse
(SRA)
Abusing their young charges in satanic rituals
Blood drinking, cannibalism, human sacrifices
All the characteristics of a moral panic –
Widespread, reactive, hostile and largely irrational
The Satanic Day Care Moral Panic
Timing of the Moral Panic
80s – growing cultural anxiety about satanic menaces to
children
Concerns about demonic influences in:
Heavy metal music
Fantasy role play games
Tarot cards and Ouija boards
Urban legends about mysterious Satanists abducting fair haired,
blue eyed children from malls
Rumors of covert satanic cults filming child porn
Tales of child sex rings
Target and Triggers of the Moral Panic
Economic strains make participation in work forces necessary
Puts more women with children into the work force
1980 – record 45% of women with kids working outside the
home
Many parents considered day care a worse alternative to the
stay at home child care of their parents generation
Deep cuts in federal funding had closed many centers
Left remaining centers with high fees, too many kids and due to
low wages – few providers and high turn over

25. Still a spark was needed to ignite the panic
1983 McMartin Preschool – 2 ½ yo made statements vaguely
suggestive of sexual abuse
Eventually worked into an allegation of SRA by social workers
who already had some experience as claims makers
Spread of the Moral Panic
News media emerged as a major interest group
Case was complex enough to warrant daily coverage
Intolerable horrors to evoke and sustain intense emotional
responses
Enough familiarity in terms of location, key claims makers and
even prime suspects to spark interest
Enough real folk devils in role of day care providers to
demonize
Sufficient exigency to elicits feelings that “something must be
done”
In national news – tempered considerably and quelled
completely in a few investigative reports
Social workers, mental health professionals, attorneys, LEOs
are chief moral entrepreneurs (eventually become a target
themselves)
Burgeoning sexual abuse industry
Lecture circuit, addressed child protection conferences, conduct
workshops, consulted professionals involved in other cases and
testified as expert witnesses
SW who interviewed most of the kids testified before Congress
of an organized operation of child predators using day care
centers as a ruse for a large unthinkable network of crimes
against children
Rhetoric like that may be enough to ignite a moral panic

26. Backed up with facts is more combustible
Professionals developed and disseminated a synthetic diabolism
out of materials haphazardly borrowed from eclectic sources on
Satanism, occult, mysticism, paganism and witchcraft
Indicator lists/ symptom lists
Little was the result of well designed and controlled studies
Parents of the allegedly abused victims were unabashed
believers
CLOUT – legislative group - Child friendly testifying
procedures:
Shield witnesses by allowing to testify on video, CCTV, behind
screens or with their backs to the defendants
Denouement of the Moral Panic
Moral panic effectively ended in 1991
Several factors contributed to its demise:
Cultural anxiety had been largely debunked
Most vocal claims makers had retreated into silence
More women in work force – more use of day care – more
mainstream
Tightened day care regulations
More teeth to enforce them
Significant day care reforms on state level
Day care providers took steps to protect themselves from
allegations
Video cameras, opened up private spaces, kept PC to a
minimum, open door policies, parents drop in
Schism within the claims making professional groups that
widened over the years of the moral panics