Oak Hill satanic ritual abuse trial

Oak Hill satanic ritual abuse trial

The Oak Hill satanic ritual abuse trial occurred in Oak Hill, Austin, Texas. Fran Keller was the proprietor of a small day care, taking care of preschool children out of their own homes with the assistance of her retired husband, Dan. In the summer of 1991, the therapist of a three-year-old child being treated for behavioural problems due to her parents' divorce alleged that the Kellers had sexually abused her. The child's mother contacted the police, who alerted the case's eventual prosecuting attorney, who contacted a friend whose child was also enrolled in the day care and being treated by the same therapist. The second child also eventually alleged abuse. An adult who had recently recovered memories of childhood ritual abuse claimed the abuse was an example of satanic ritual abuse, and parents began to contact each other, eventually launching a legal case. With information gathered from Believe the Children, an organization created by the parents involved in the McMartin preschool trial, children enrolled in the daycare were repeatedly questioned by parents, therapists and law enforcement officers as part of the investigation. Suspicion expanded to include public officials, including police officers; one officer's ex-husband was interrogated for several hours and submitted to two polygraph tests, eventually confessing child, but not ritual, abuse; although he retracted the confession the following morning. Following this confession, the Kellers fled the state, later explaining that their decision was based on the draconian sentences imposed on other, similarly-accused day care providers. The children were diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder.[1]

The Kellers faced a six-day trial, during which the original child claimed no abuse had taken place but she had been told to say it had. Despite this retraction, the Kellers were given sentences of 48 years each. Later investigation of the case revealed serious problems: There was no physical evidence of abuse, a retracted confession that the investigating officer did not believe, flawed medical exams of the children, testimony by a dubious "expert" on satanic ritual abuse, and the prosecution withholding information from the defence.[2]

References

  1. ^ de Young, Mary (2004). The Day Care Ritual Abuse Moral Panic. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States: McFarland & Company. pp. 107–9. ISBN 0786418303. 
  2. ^ Smith, J (2009-03-27). "Believing the Children: It's likely Fran and Danny Keller were innocent of charges of child sexual abuse, but they're still in prison after 17 years". The Austin Chronicle. 

Further reading


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Faith Chapel Church ritual abuse case — The Faith Chapel Church ritual abuse case was a case of a developmentally disabled individual charged with child sexual abuse in 1991 as part of the satanic ritual abuse moral panic. After a seven month long trial the accused was found not guilty …   Wikipedia

  • Cult and Ritual Abuse — Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America   …   Wikipedia

  • Day-care sex-abuse hysteria — was a panic that occurred primarily in the 1980s and early 1990s featuring claims against daycare providers of satanic ritual abuse and several forms of child abuse.[1][2] A prominent case in Kern County, California, first brought the issue of… …   Wikipedia

  • McMartin preschool trial — Virginia McMartin during the McMartin preschool trial The McMartin preschool trial was a day care sexual abuse case of the 1980s. Members of the McMartin family, who operated a preschool in California, were charged with numerous acts of sexual… …   Wikipedia

  • Martensville satanic sex scandal — The Martensville satanic sex scandal occurred in Martensville, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1992, where an allegation of day care sexual abuse hysteria escalated into claims of satanic ritual abuse. History In 1992, a mother in Martensville,… …   Wikipedia

  • Fells Acres Day Care Center preschool trial — Fells Acres Day Care Center was located in Malden, Massachusetts, in the United States and was part of the day care sex abuse hysteria of the 1980s.[1][2][3] Violet Amirault (1923–1997) opened the facility in 1966.[4] Contents …   Wikipedia

  • Child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome — (CSAAS) is a nondiagnostic syndrome developed by Roland C. Summit in 1983 to describe how he believed sexually abused children responded to ongoing abuse. Roland Summit developed the theory in 1983 to describe how children resolve the experience… …   Wikipedia

  • Cleveland child abuse scandal — The Cleveland child abuse scandal occurred in Cleveland, England in 1987, where 121 cases of suspected child sexual abuse were diagnosed by Dr Marietta Higgs and Dr Geoffrey Wyatt, paediatricians at a Middlesbrough hospital (in the now abolished… …   Wikipedia

  • Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis — Peter Ellis Peter Ellis, 1992 Born 30 March 1958 Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis (born 30 March 1958) is a former Christchurch child care worker who has been at the centre of one of New Zealand s most enduring judicia …   Wikipedia

  • Michelle Remembers —   …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”