At the end of the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, a man in my hometown was accused of sexually abusing children. The claims were bizarre: He had supposedly taken children to secret tunnels beneath a church, killed animals, and forced children to participate in satanic rituals. The trial became a public spectacle when the CEO of Jack in the Box pressured the prosecution.
After a seven-month trial, the man was acquitted on all charges. There was no physical evidence—no animal remains, no witnesses, no corroboration of any kind. The jury took just hours to reach its decision.
From the 1980s into the ’90s, more than 12,000 accusations of satanic or ritual child abuse were lodged—but not one was substantiated. The “Satanic Panic” revealed more about our capacity for fear than about actual abuse.
