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Rivera, Geraldo 225
A number of other writers featured on Rivera’s
special have also been exposed as frauds.
Perhaps to emphasize the sensational nature of
the subject matter as a way of titillating viewers,
Rivera repeatedly stressed that children should be
taken away from the TV during his report. Then, in
the words of Tom Shales, writing for the San Jose
Mercury News, “There followed a segment on the
alleged breeding of babies for sacrifice in Satanic
rituals, something which, said Rivera, ‘may really be
happening.’ Other segments dealt with ritual sexual
abuse of children, mutilations of infants and cocktail
parties for the blood-drinking set.” Rivera’s presentation
was redundantly saturated with expressions
like “gruesome rituals,”“gruesome memories,”
“gruesome allegations,” and even “The most gruesome
scenes are left out.” Ignoring the fact that there
is almost no evidence for such allegations, he incorporated
a film clip of Charles Manson into the
program, referring to him as, “today’s top Satanic
celebrity . . . That man is so repugnant...All these
Satanic murderers are.” This was a clever strategy.
Although the profile of Manson’s group was quite
different from the alleged Satanic cults of the 1980s,
juxtaposing Manson—a convicted murderer—with
contemporary SRA claims give the latter a credibility
they lack on their own.
Rivera also brought a number of spokespeople
for the “SRA-is-real” perspective onto the show.
No questions that might challenge this perspective
were allowed to be raised. One of the more
dramatic guests was a woman who claimed that
she had been “for seventeen years a high priestess
of a Satanic ‘cult’ that ‘governed’ five states.” She
appeared anonymously behind a screen, supposedly
provided to prevent her from being identified
by her former associates. Her claims were of the
most extreme sort, asserting that she had been a
high priestess in a Satanic movement out to
conquer the world. Although he mentioned the
book in which this woman was featured, He Came
to Set the Captives Free, Rivera either failed to actually
read it himself or else diplomatically avoided
mentioning such patent absurdities as her claim to
have conspired with such celebrities as the pope:
I also made a number of trips to other
countries. I have been to Mecca, Israel, Egypt,
also the Vatican in Rome to meet with the
Pope. All my trips were for the purpose of
coordinating Satan’s programs with Satanists in
other lands, as well as meeting with various
government officials to discuss aid to their
countries in the form of money. A few did not
know that I was a Satanist, but thought I was
associated with a powerful wealthy
organization of some kind. People asking for
money don’t ask too many questions. The Pope
knew very well who I was. We worked closely
both with the Catholics (especially the Jesuits)
and the high-ranking Masons. It was during
this time that I met many of the well known
Rock music stars. They all signed contracts
with Satan in return for fame and fortune.
The next person on the program was the
author of He Came to Set the Captives Free, who
had helped the “high priestess” and many others
escape from Satanic cults. When asked about her
association with law enforcement, she responded
that, “I have a very distant relationship with the
authorities because my job is to bring people out,
not turn them in to the police. However, I do work
with police and FBI pretty extensively. If I know of
someone who is not willing to stop what they are
doing, I’ll be the first one to tip the police off.”
Rivera did not bother to question her contradictory
assertions. Rivera’s other guests were only
slightly more credible.
Subsequent Rivera episodes featuring SRA
aired in September 1991 and June 1995. The net
effect of these and other programs may have been
to convince numerous viewers that they could be
carrying repressed memories of ritual abuse. As
noted by Bruce Robinson of the Ontario
Consultants for Religious Tolerance:
One example may have been the Paul Ingram
case in Olympia, Washington. His daughters
had watched a Geraldo Rivera TV show on
Satanic ritual abuse. Shortly thereafter, a
police investigator suggested that their father
might have abused them during Satanic
rituals. They “enthusiastically agreed.” One
sister recovered memories of being forced to
watch the ritual murders of 25 people. She