LANNING'S GUIDE TO ALLEGATIONS
OF CHILDHOOD RITUAL ABUSE, PART 3
LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING
The belief that there is a connection between satanism and crime is
certainly not new. As previously stated, one of the oldest theories
concerning the causes of crime is demonology. Fear of satanic or occult
activity has peaked from time to time throughout history. Concern in the
late 1970s focused primarily on "unexplained" deaths and mutilations of
animals (1), and in recent years has focused on child sexual abuse and the
alleged human sacrifice of missing children. In 1999 it will probably focus
on the impending "end of the world".
Today satanism and a wide variety of other terms are used interchangeably
in reference to certain crimes. This discussion will analyze the nature of
"satanic, occult, ritualistic" crime primarily as it pertains to the abuse
of children and focus on appropriate law enforcement responses to it.
Recently a flood of law enforcement seminars and conferences have dealt
with satanic and ritualistic crime. These training conferences have various
titles, such as "Occult in Crime", "Satanic Cults", 'Ritualistic Crime
Seminar", "Satanic Influences in Homicide", "Occult Crimes, Satanism and
Teen Suicide", and "Ritualistic Abuse of Children". (2)
The typical conference runs from one to three days, and many of them
include the same presenters and instructors. A wide variety of topics are
usually discussed during this training either as individual presentations
by different instructors or grouped together by one or more instructors.
Typical topics covered include the following:
-- Historical overview of satanism, witchcraft, and
paganism from ancient
to modern times.
-- Nature and influence of fantasy role-playing games, such as "Dungeons
-- Lyrics, symbolism, and influence of rock and roll, Heavy Metal, and
Black Metal music.
-- Teenage "stoner" gangs, their symbols, and their vandalism.
-- Teenage suicide by adolescents dabbling in the occult.
-- Crimes committed by self-styled satanic practitioners, including grave
and church desecrations and robberies, animal mutilations, and even
-- Ritualistic abuse of children as part of bizarre ceremonies and human
-- Organized, Traditional, or Multigenerational satanic groups involved in
organized conspiracies, such as taking over day care centers, infiltrating
police departments, and trafficking in human sacrifice victims.
-- The "Big Conspiracy" theory, which implies that satanists are
responsible for such things as Adolf Hitler, World War II, abortion,
illegal drugs, pornography, Watergate, and Irangate, and have infiltrated
the Department of Justice, the Pentagon, and the White House.
During the conferences, these nine areas are linked together through the
liberal use of the word "satanism" and some common symbolism (pentagrams,
666, demons, etc.). The implication often is that all are part of a
continuum of behavior, a single problem or some common conspiracy. The
distinctions among the different areas are blurred even if occasionally a
presenter tries to make them. The information presented is a mixture of
fact, theory, opinion, fantasy, and paranoia, and because some of it can be
proven or corroborated (symbols on rock albums, graffiti on walls,
desecration of cemeteries, vandalism, etc.), the implication is that it is
all true and documented. Material produced by religious organizations,
photocopies and slides of newspaper articles, and videotapes of tabloid
television programs are used to supplement the training and are presented
as "evidence" of the existence and nature of the problem.
All of this is complicated by the fact that almost any discussion of
satanism and the occult is interpreted in the light of the religious
beliefs of those in the audience. Faith, not logic and reason, governs the
religious beliefs of most people. As a result, some normally skeptical law
enforcement officers accept the information disseminated at these
conferences without critically evaluating it or questioning the sources.
Officers who do not normally depend on church groups for law enforcement
criminal intelligence, who know that media accounts of their own cases are
notoriously inaccurate, and who scoff at and joke about tabloid television
accounts of bizarre behavior suddenly embrace such material when presented
in the context of satanic activity. Individuals not in law enforcement seem
even more likely to do so. Other disciplines, especially therapists, have
also conducted training conferences on the characteristics and
identification of "ritual" child abuse. Nothing said at such conferences
will change the religious beliefs of those in attendance. Such conferences
illustrate the highly emotional nature of and the ambiguity and wide
variety of terms involved in this issue.
- Cattle deaths in the American southwest were later found to have been
caused by natural predators. The original panic was largely created by
individuals without much ranching experience.
- Many such seminars were originally organized by Fundamentalists and other
conservative Christians, largely motivated by hate and fear of
non-traditional faith groups (e.g. New Age, Neopagan, etc). As skepticism
within the law enforcement community increases, these seminars are becoming
Return to the OCRT home page, or
"Not So Spiritual" page, or
"Ritual Abuse Studies" page, or
"FBI Report" page.