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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 8814
[Legal]
Date Posted:
12/30/2003
4:52:27 pm EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 5,402
RSS: 0
Comments: 11
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Update: Judge Rules Accused Were Victims In Satanic Abuse Case
Author: Canadian Press
Source: The Toronto Star (Canada)
Title: ACCUSED WERE VICTIMS IN ABUSE CASE, JUDGE RULES
Twelve people who were accused of the ritual sex abuse of foster children were the victims of a malicious prosecution, a Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled today.
Richard Klassen and 11 others were accused more than 12 years ago of ritualistically abusing foster kids - forcing them to eat eyeballs, drink blood, participate in orgies and watch newborn babies get skinned and buried.
"The case was labelled by the media as the 'scandal of the century'," said Justice George Baynton in his ruling.
"The real scandal however, is the travesty of justice that was visited upon 12 of those individuals, the plaintiffs in the civil action, by branding them as pedophiles, even though each of them was innocent of the horrendous allegations and criminal offences charged against them."
Submitted by and Thanks to: Phoenix Rafael
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Community Thoughts: There are 11 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Bad Writing And Good Judgement | Jan 1st. at 5:44:26 pm EST |
by Wild_Huntsman (Toronto, Ontario) - wc_xemail
The trouble with the Star is the writing is so atrocious you have to read the article 3 times and rearrange the facts to get the picture.
The conviction for child abuse was part of the case: it was a plea bargan, because, after 2 years of trial, it was that or the probability of going to prison as a child molester (this is a choice?) . That was the conviction that was overturned.
The only demonstrable abuse was by the child Michael against his two sisters; he was probably acting out his own frustrations and pain.
It is so sad that families were torn apart and lives destroyed in the "believe the children" hysteria that was going along at the time. It was triggered by the very real Mt.Cashel Orphanage scandal and several other very real cases and suddenly allegations of abuse were cropping up everywhere. This was also the time when false-memories were flying around, too. Everyone was trying to get at 'suppressed' memories and then turning to the courts as a first step instead of a last step.
This is not the only case of false allegations, it is just the most high-profile one. There are several others whose lives were completely destroyed by false allegations and overzealous and lazy police. Guy Paul Morin went to prison until DNA cleared his name of the rape and murder of Christine Jessop. Her real murderer has never been caught.
Finally justice (achingly slow) has resolved this case, along with several others. We finally got past the "children are always scrupulously truthful" bit and have learned how to handle wild allegations. Fools promote the existance of Satanic Conspiracy (see series by Kerr Cuhulain) but most people aren't ready to take fantasies at face value any more. There must be corroborating evidence.
This won't be the last time: sadly, we will make these mistakes again. Real problems and real abuse will create another hysteria that will come along in another guise to wreck lives and destroy people. It just never happens the same way twice, so we can fool ourselves into thinking "this time, it's real" when it isn't. Salem and the Witch Hunt wasn't, the Great Satanic Child Abuse wave wasn't, and the next one won't be, either.
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| No Title | Jan 1st. at 3:10:48 pm EST |
by Ahroun (New England) - wc_xemail
I posted my comment on this article. The article was later re-posted by Witchvox, not sure why, they had their reasons/mix-up. So all comments from when I posted are not listed here.
WREN: Your post was made under the previous article on this topic and it is still there. See article # 8812.
Personal responses to other post(s) and/or poster(s) on this forum is a violation of the rules and so the rest of your comment here has been deleted.
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| Thorough Investigations Would Have Done Better | Dec 31st. at 8:06:17 pm EST |
by Steph (Midwest City OK) - wc_xemail
The kids were molested, but it still remains to be seen who actually did the deed.
The problem is not that people do not believe the children.
Its not even that people do not report the crimes.
Its that certain legal processes are skipped in the hurry to lynch the accused: Note: Accused, not Convicted.
This is not something that should be based upon hunches, or religious ideology, or supersticicious fears, or lurid imaginings.
Accusations of any sexual assault should be treated as the serious matter that it is. Because we have the direct victim of assault {in this case the children}. and due to the sloppy emoting that passed for police work, we have an entire extended family as a direct victim of the State.
And yet there is still an actual perpetrator on the loose. So the arguments concerning "Believing the Children" or not are moot.
1. The system has to be utilized correctly and fairly in order for all citizens to receive fair and equitable treatment during what should be their due process.
2. Lynching someone, anyone through the Child Protective Services helps no one, because it does not capture real pedophiles, it sows distrust in the public {because hey, whose family will be next?} and it puts more children into a system that is overburdened, and fundamentally flawed from a legal and ethical position.
The molestation that occured here is the catalyst, but it is the State's reaction to the situation that warrants the horrified reaction. 20 or 30 years as a family known for pedophilia is just as bad as any assault on a child. The accusation and branding carry its own shameful baggage.
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| The Kids Were Molested According To Article | Dec 31st. at 4:41:41 pm EST |
by Sappho (SF Bay Area) - wc_xemail - Web
According to the article, one of the Klassens had a prior conviction on child molestation, and pleaded guilty to molesting the Ross children. All the added charges seem to be Satanic panic. The fact remains: these children were molested while in foster care. No one in the foster home protected them. I don't feel sorry for these people.
The false reporting rate for child sexual abuse is the same for any other crime: about one percent. Kerr Cuhulain estimates that 25% of all children are molested. This is worse than AIDS or cancer. It is an international epidemic. If you suspect a child is being molested, it is your duty as a human being to report it immediately. For more info. visit RAINN.org
If you were molested, it was not your fault and you are not alone. HealingGrove.com is a website and online forum for Wiccan and Pagan survivors of rape, incest and abuse and their allies. We accept men and women. Daughters of Demeter is a Yahoo! Group for women only. Recovery is difficult but possible. Sharing makes it easier. Blessed Be. Find More info -- HERE
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| SRA/ False Accusations Clouding Real Cases | Dec 31st. at 1:44:36 pm EST |
by Steph (Midwest city OK) - wc_xemail
We have similar problems in the US. Most of it a product of the Satanic Panic of the 1980's and 90's. Its unfortunate, because in this country, the Dept of Human Services through their Child Protections programs are essentially given police powers without the appropriate checks and balances that would limit abuse of power.
In the US if a person is accused of pedophilia, then they are required to go through offender classes. Part of completion of the classes is the admission of guilt. If you do not declare your guilt, then you don't get your certificate, and then you don't get your kids back.
If you complete the classes and declare your guilt, then voila: You are now a registerred sex offender, and wow, we all see in the news, how happy people are to have a registerred sex offender as a neighbor. You get your own web-mug shot for all to view.
DHS and CPS should not be able to pigeon hold alleged offenders without probable cause and due process. These agencies have been known to run with a case against individuals even if police investigations indicate that there is no probable cause.
What that means is you can become an offender without benefit of a criminal trial. You can loose your kids forever, and be branded a pervert for all time without a jury of your peers, all in the name of protecting the children.
And the way this government is currently set up, we encourage state CPS agencies to keep enlarging their stable of children in order to keep receiveing the same amount or more funding to keep their employees paid. We encourage the removal of children, when it might be more in the interests of the state budget than it is in the interest of the child.
[Web LINK]
Casa has a web site with stats
[Web LINK]
Here is the Government Website of Child Abuse and Neglect
[Web LINK]
Here is a site for those who might be in a situation:
[Web LINK]
There is good info here as well
SRAs are only the most ridiculous accusations, but its not the only way children are wrongfully removed from families, or the only way in which adults find their lives ruined. Find More info -- HERE
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| Kids And Lies | Dec 31st. at 1:04:14 pm EST |
by Dahlei (Colorado) - wc_xemail
Kids brains are pretty eleastic, and the often have trouble telling real from fantasy, especially when asked leading questions by adults. If you ask a child "When we went to McDonalds, did you have a Big Mac or a Happy Meal?" you may well get an answer even if you've never taken the child to McDonalds. I tried this with my son when he was 6, we went to a family gathering and afterwards I asked if he had liked the sweatshirt his grandmother was wearing. He said 'Yes, I love that fuzzy bear on it'. None of his grandparents had been at the party. No one at the party was wearing a sweatshirt with a bear, not does either grandmother own such a thing (I checked later) .
Always believe the children enough to look into their claims. Don't always assume their stories are complete or true.
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| Once In A While It Really Is The Kids' Fault | Dec 31st. at 9:45:24 am EST |
by Robert (Rhode Island) - wc_xemail
In this case, the children (now adults) have said that they made up their accusations, and a court has now confirmed it. If this isn't a powerful counter-example, I don't know what could be.
Agreed, there's a horrific amount of abuse out there, and we could do a lot more to reduce it. But it only hurts the good cause to say that children *absolutely never* make up accusations of sexual abuse. Sometimes they do. In this case they did, and they ruined lives by their childish, desperate lies. Those ruined lives were too high a price to pay to protect those children.
It is not always a good thing to err on the side of caution. In this case it was a very evil thing.
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| Disclaimer . . . . | Dec 31st. at 8:20:35 am EST |
by KarEEna (Perth, Australia) - wc_xemail
Just to clarify . . . . I was not implying that I have or ever would disbelieve a child when they came forward with sexual abuse allegations. I have believed things of people over the years (when I and the people in question were both in our teens) and have since found out that they were most likely bending the truth. BUT, that still would not make me less likely to believe a child when they claimed sexual abuse.
I merely meant that in the case of wild baby skinning, orgy loving crazy Satanic accusations . . . . I'd be more prone to send the kids to a new psychologist to ascertain the true story rather than go out attempting to arrest the so called Satanists.
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| Not The Kids Fault | Dec 31st. at 5:44:56 am EST |
by Anne (USA) - wc_xemail
I would disagree that children make sexual abuse claims up. Sometimes, especially in custody cases, there are SOME (and only some) custodial guardians or parents who will make up allegations and involve the kids (which, in my opinion, is child abuse itself) .
That said, PLEASE believe children when they report abuse. It's more important to get kids out of real abuse situations than to brush them off and have them die or be traumatized for the rest of their lives. Interviewing techniques for possible child vicitms has become a lot more careful, basically with a one time interview by a single individual and other professionals such as lawyers, social workers, and law enforcement sitting in behind two way mirrors so the kids don't feel intimidated by so many people and they don't have to go through mutiple interviews that could compromise the initial story and evidence.
Yeah, you get over zealous law enforcement officers once in a blue moon but these seem to be rare.
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| Can We Get This Judge Moved To The US? | Dec 30th. at 10:09:34 pm EST |
by Annie (Laurel, MD) - wc_xemail
Maybe, if we got this judge moved to the United States, he' d be able to rule on the West Memphis 3 case!
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| Witch Hunts . .. | Dec 30th. at 8:02:34 pm EST |
by KarEEna (Perth, Australia) - wc_xemail
You know, people have been trying to figure out bizaare and more complicated reasons for why the Salem Witch Trials (and any other Witch Hunt for that matter) happened. There have been claims of ergotism (disproved) and all kinds of theories. But, I think this case pretty much proves it: Kids MAKE sh*t UP and crazy adults with wild imaginations BELIEVE it sometimes!
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