When did the momentum behind Satanic ritual abuse start building?
Between 1984-85, the satanic cult rumor, the ritual abuse concept, and the whole constellation of allegations surrounding the term satanic ritual abuse became clearly recognizable. We were not talking about somebody being ritually tortured by a serial killer such as the “Nightstalker” [satanic loner Richard Ramirez, convicted of 13 counts of murder eds.]. In a case like that, there are dead bodies lying around. When the killer is finally found, people are horrified and say, “He was right under our noses!” You must keep in mind that although cases like that feed the very real fears that sustain popular rumors of organized satanic conspirators, they do not corroborate the claims being made by the alleged victims of satanic ritual abuse (SRA). These adults, the majority of whom have long psychiatric histories, are alleging torture, mutilation, rape, incest and cannibalism, all perpetrated in the context of large group rituals including robes, masks, knives, and other paraphernalia. These
