Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...

Chronology 289
with 190 counts of physical and sexual abuse
against two dozen children at the Sterling’s
baby-sitting service in Martensville, Canada.
Wild rumors of evil Satanists circulate through
the town leading many citizens to began
perceiving Satanic cult activity everywhere in
what comes to be referred to as the
Martensville Nightmare.
Rainer Moellers, an instructor at a Muenster,
Germany, Montessori nursery, is charged with
the ritual abuse of sixty-two children. The
original allegation related to the taking of a
child’s temperature. Subsequent to input by a
group with a Satanic ritual abuse orientation
leads to Moellers’s dismissal and the filing of
formal charges. In the face of the surrealistic
nature of many of the accusations and the
complete lack of any physical evidence
Moellers was acquitted in early 1995.
The influential FBI report, Kenneth V.
Lanning’s “Investigator’s Guide to Allegations
of ‘Ritual’ Child Abuse,” is issued. This report,
which dismisses the reality of Satanic ritual
abuse, has been described as the most
influential document on the subject ever
written.
Release of the documentary-style Scandinavian
film Haxan (1922), retitled Witchcraft Through
the Ages for the English-speaking world. The
film contains reenactments of infernal folklore,
such as witches performing the so-called “kiss
of shame.”
1993 Illinois passes a ritual abuse law to prevent
“Ritualized Abuse of a Child.”
Accusations of Satanic ritual abuse are leveled
against four families in Bishop Auckland, UK.
In early 1995, the senior prosecutor dropped
the case because the evidence was ambiguous
and the charges unbelievable.
An opinion poll conduced by Time magazine
indicates that 49 percent of the population
believes in fallen angels or devils.
Publication of Jeffrey Victor’s Satanic Panic:
The Creation of a Contemporary Legend, a
scholarly study that debunks Satanic ritual
abuse as a moral panic.
The Robin Hood Hills murders take place near
West Memphis, Arkansas. Three teenagers,
who prosecutors portray as Satanists, are
eventually convicted.
1994 The definitive British government report on
Satanic Ritual Abuse, The Extent & Nature of
Organized Ritual Abuse, is issued.
Commissioned by the health secretary, the
report is authored by Professor Jean La
Fontaine and a team at Manchester University.
Formation of the Black Lodge, a Satanist
group viewing itself as an organized rebirth of
the culture of the ancient Inca and Nazca.
Six men from Pembroke, West Wales, are
convicted of child sexual abuse in a Satanic
ritual abuse case. It is the largest case of its
kind in British history.
The Newcastle Satanic ritual abuse case goes to
trial in England. Defendants were acquitted
because the evidence was judged unreliable.
1995 California passes a ritual abuse law modeled
after a prior Idaho law. The California law
provides that someone convicted of child
abuse could have their sentence extended three
years if “the offense was committed as part of
a ceremony, rite, or any similar observance.”
On “Wrongly Accused and Convicted of Child
Molest,” Geraldo Rivera apologizes for
promoting the Satanic ritual abuse scare.
1996 Marco Dimitri, founder-leader of the
Luciferian Children of Satan (Bambini di
Satana Luciferiani) and some followers are
charged with rape by Italian authorities. All of
the principal charges are dismissed the
following year, though Dimitri was convicted
on a minor tax violation.
Marc Dutroux, the so-called “Monster from
Charleroi,” is arrested and charged with
kidnapping, imprisoning, and sexually abusing
six young girls, four of whom were found
dead. Although there was no evidence of an
occult connection, the case was quickly
classified as a Satanic ritual abuse case.
1997 Anton Szandor LaVey, founder of the Church
of Satan, dies in San Francisco. The conflict
between the original Church of Satan and new
Satanist groups increases in the wake of
LaVey’s death.
The Ninth Covenant, a Satanist organization,
is founded by Syn Holiday in Long Beach,
California.
1998 Ascendancy, a prominent Satanic website, is
created under the name “Hallowed Be Thy
Name” by Jashan A’al (Valeska Scholl).
1999 Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina, prefect of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments, issues an