Ritual Abuse News letter Issue 91 – March 2010

The purpose of this newsletter is to help stop secretive organizations and groups from abusing others and to help those who allege they have been abused by such organizations and groups. This newsletter is not a substitute for other ways of recovering from ritual abuse. Readers should use caution while reading this newsletter. If necessary, make sure other support systems are available during and after reading this newsletter.

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Important: The resources mentioned in this newsletter are for educational value only. Reading the books cited may or may not help your recovery process, so use caution when reading any book or contacting any resource mentioned in this newsletter. Some may have a religious or other agenda that may be separate from your own recovery process. Others may have valuable information on the Masons and other organizations, but have triggers or be somewhat sympathetic to those organizations. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the views expressed in this newsletter constitute expressions of opinion, and readers are cautioned to form their own opinions and draw their own conclusions by consulting a variety of sources, including this newsletter. Resources listed, quoted and individual articles, etc. and their writers do not necessarily support all or any of the views mentioned in this newsletter. Also, the views, facts and opinions mentioned in this newsletter are solely the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily the opinions of this newsletter or its editor.
Copyright 2010 – All rights reserved. No reproduction of any material without written permission from the editor and individual authors.

SMART wants to thank all those that have contributed resource information to the newsletter.

2010 conference information with our latest speaker information is at http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/

The 2009 Twelfth Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference – August 14-16, 2009 CD information is at http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conferenc...onference/ or available by writing the above address.

This issue contains information on clergy abuse cases, including the Paul Shanley recovered memory case and information on the rejection of his appeal by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the West Memphis 3, The Amirault – Fells Acres case, human experimentation, dissociative identity disorder, recovered memory research, Satanic ritual abuse, and retractor validity.

Resources and Information
Please note: Listing of these resources does not necessarily constitute our endorsement of them. They are for educational value only and some may be heavy for survivors to read. Some of the conferences listed may not necessarily be safe for all survivors. S.M.A.R.T. recommends always bringing a support person to all conferences. If you are a survivor of mind control and/or ritual abuse, S.M.A.R.T. recommends that you try to bring a support person that is familiar with mind control techniques.

Legal Information

More than 500 claims filed against NW Jesuits – The Associated Press 12/6/09 SPOKANE, Wash. – More than 500 people in the Northwest filed claims against the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus in advance of a November deadline, alleging members of the Catholic order sexually abused them as children. The Spokesman-Review in Spokane reports the claims against the Jesuits span decades and range from Native Alaskan children to students at Spokane’s Gonzaga Preparatory School. A federal judge overseeing the Chapter 11 reorganization of the province set a Nov. 30 deadline for people to file the claims. The organization includes Jesuits in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The Jesuits already have settled 200 additional sex-abuse claims. http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_13940407

Study: Clergy sexual abuse an ongoing problem (November 2009 issue) More than 3 percent of adult women who attend religious services at least once a month have been victims of clergy sexual abuse, according to researchers at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. Four percent of respondents said they knew of a close friend or family member who experienced a sexual advance by a clergy member in their congregation, the study said.
Baylor researchers said their report is the largest scientific study into this issue in the U.S. “Because many people are familiar with some of the high-profile cases of sexual misconduct, most people assume that it is just a matter of a few charismatic leaders preying on vulnerable followers,” said Diana Garland, dean of Baylor’s School of Social Work and lead researcher in the study. “What this research tells us, however, is that clergy sexual misconduct with adults is a widespread problem in congregations of all sizes and occurs across denominations.” http://www.thelutheran.org/article/ar...le_id=8572

describes graphic crimes
Kevin Annett, beaten, exposes role of Canada’s police and churches in sex crimes and child trafficking Brenda Norrell 1/11/10
Kevin Annett, human rights activist beaten in Vancouver on Wednesday, released a new article today exposing the role of Canada’s police and churches in sex crimes and child trafficking, including the abuse of Native women and children.
Kevin Annett, a community minister, was assaulted by two men in Vancouver’s downtown eastside on Wednesday, Jan. Jan. 6, 2010, just two days after he published an article on church and government complicity in child trafficking on Canada’s west coast.
Annett suffered cuts, bruises, and at least one broken rib as a result of the unprovoked beating by two men, one of whom is linked to a downtown church agency.
Today, after being beaten, Annett released a new article on the role of Vancouver police in sex crimes http://www.censored-news.blogspot.com….Annett has exposed the rape, torture and murder of Native children in Canada’s residential schools, through church documents and interviews. In one case, a Native girl was raped and the infant she gave birth to was thrown into the furnace. The abuse of Native children in Canada’s residential schools mirrored the abuse in aboriginal boarding schools in Australia and BIA boarding schools in the United States.
Annett is now exposing the role of the church and Canadian government in sex crimes, including the disappearance of Native children in child trafficking and murder of Native women….
Annett, who for fifteen years has led the campaign to bring to justice the churches and government responsible for genocide in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools, made international news in October 2009 when he held the first memorial service for missing native children outside the Vatican in Rome.
Rev. Annett, school survivors and native elders have also led high profile protests and occupations of churches in Vancouver and Toronto since 2005, and on many occasions Annett has been threatened by church officials and police, according to a statement from Hidden From History. (Annett’s site http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/)

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/note...ex-cri#new

Archdiocese: Abusive Priests With Ireland Ties Worked In Boston By DEBORAH BECKER 1/27/10 BOSTON — For the first time, the Boston Archdiocese has confirmed that some abusive priests with ties to Ireland worked in Boston. An Irish government report last year outlined rampant clergy sex abuse in Ireland, but the Boston Archdiocese has never before acknowledged that any of those priests worked here….Last month, BishopAccountability.org published a list of about 70 priests it said were either born in Ireland or are of Irish descent and who re-offended children in the U.S. The late priest Brendan Smyth was accused of molesting children in Ireland, Britain, North Dakota and Rhode Island. http://www.wbur.org/2010/01/27/irish-priests

Irish Priests Who Have Worked in the United States and Are Accused of Sexual Misconduct – The Catholic sexual abuse crises in the United States and Ireland are deeply connected. Priests who were trained in the Irish seminary system were crucial to the growth of the U.S. church. Many Irish-born priests, including one bishop, are sadly among the priests accused of abuse in the United States. Some priests who offended in Ireland were transferred to the United States, and priests accused of abuse in the United States have sometimes found shelter in Ireland. http://www.bishop-accountability.org/...sts_in_us/

describes crimes – Israel police nab man suspected of enslaving women, children 1/15/10 ISRAELI police said they have arrested a sect leader suspected of enslaving and sexually abusing 17 women and the 40 children he had with them….Mr Ratzon has been known for several years to head a sect of women who were said to adulate him, have sex with him and raise his children. Police suspect that Mr Ratzon also raped and impregnated his own daughters. The grey-bearded, long-haired man, who was arrested on Monday following a lengthy undercover investigation, held the women under his strict control, enforcing a draconian book of rules that specified behaviour and punishments. http://www.news.com.au/world/israel-p...5819849037
Israeli living with 17 women arrested for enslavement, rape By Yaniv Kubovich, Haaretz Correspondent 1/14/10 A Tel Aviv man who has been living with 17 women with whom he fathered 38 children was arrested on Monday on suspicion of enslavement, rape, extortion by threat and sexual assault of minors, among other charges, police said after a gag order was lifted on the case….Police confiscated a rule book by which Ratzon forced his family to abide. The women were forbidden to communicate with men, be in physical contact with their biological family, eat meat, smoke, drink alcohol or dress immodestly. Ratzon is considered by his companions to be the savior (Goel in Hebrew) of the universe, and is attributed godly and supernatural abilities. Many of the women have tattooed his name and portrait to several parts of their bodies. The names of every one of Ratzon’s children include his own first name. For instance, one of his sons is called Avinu Ha-Goel (our father the savior) and he has a daughter named Tehilat Ha-Goel (glory of the savior). http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142653.html

Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Information

These articles describe graphic crimes of abuse
West Memphis 3 confession, witness corroboration and physical evidence

Death Penalty Recommended for Teen-Ager March 20, 1994 …Prosecutors presented evidence suggesting Mr. Echols was a devil worshipper and the younger teen-ager his loyal follower. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/20/us/...amp;st=nyt

Youth Is Convicted In Slaying of 3 Boys In an Arkansas City CORNING, Ark., Feb. 4, 1994 The teen-ager, Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 18, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a boy whom he had admitted chasing down. He was convicted of second-degree murder in the deaths of the other two boys….Mr. Misskelley told the police in two tape-recorded interviews that he had watched as his two friends beat the boys, raped two of them and castrated one. The prosecution said the slayings might have been part of a Satanic ritual. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/05/us/...amp;st=nyt

Jessie Lloyd MISSKELLEY, Jr. v. STATE of Arkansas CR 94-848 S.W.2d Supreme Court of Arkansas Opinion delivered February 19, 1996….
On June 3, 1993, the crime having remained unsolved, Detective Sergeant Mike Allen sought the appellant out for questioning. The appellant was not considered a suspect, but it was thought he might have knowledge about Damien Echols, who was a suspect. Detective Allen located the appellant and brought him back to the station, arriving at approximately 10:00 a.m. Later in this opinion, we will address in detail the circumstances surrounding the appellant’s interrogation. For now, it is sufficient to say that the appellant was questioned off and on over a period from 10:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. At 2:44 p.m. and again at approximately 5:00 p.m., he gave statements to police in which he confessed his involvement in the murders. Both statements were tape-recorded….
In the early morning hours of May 5, 1993, the appellant received a phone call from Jason Baldwin. Baldwin asked the appellant to accompany him and Damien Echols to the Robin Hood area. The appellant agreed to go. They went to the area, which has a creek, and were in the creek when the victims rode up on their bicycles. Baldwin and Echols called to the boys, who came to the creek. The boys were severely beaten by Baldwin and Echols. At least two of the boys were raped and forced to perform oral sex on Baldwin and Echols. According to appellant, he was merely an observer.
While these events were taking place, Michael Moore tried to escape and began running. The appellant chased him down and returned him to Baldwin and Echols. The appellant also stated that Baldwin had used a knife to cut the boys in the facial area and that the Byers boy was cut on his penis. Echols used a large stick to hit one of the boys. All three boys had their clothes taken off and were tied up….
The appellant was asked about his involvement in a cult. He said he had been involved for about three months. The participants would typically meet in the woods. They engaged in orgies and, as an initiation rite, killing and eating dogs. He noted that at one cult meeting, he saw a picture that Echols had taken of the three boys. He stated that Echols had been watching the boys….
Damien Echols was observed near the crime scene at 9:30 p.m. on May 5. He was wearing black pants and a black shirt and his clothes were muddy. A witness testified that she had attended a satanic cult meeting with Echols and the appellant….a witness from the State Crime Lab testified that she found fibers on the victims’ clothing which were microscopically similar to items in the Baldwin and Echols residences. http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/19...4-848.html

Damien Wayne ECHOLS and Charles Jason Baldwin v. STATE of Arkansas CR 94-928 S.W.2d Supreme Court of Arkansas Opinion delivered December 23, 1996….
Where two witnesses testified that they overheard appellant Echols state that he killed the three boys, this was direct evidence; a confession is sufficient to sustain a conviction if it is accompanied by other proof that the offense was committed by someone….
There was substantial evidence of the guilt of appellant Echols where, among other things, the testimony of witnesses placed him in dirty clothes near the crime scene at a time close to the murders; where two independent witnesses reported Echols’s statement that he had killed the three boys and was direct evidence of the statement; where a criminalist from the State Crime Laboratory and a State Medical Examiner testified concerning the similarity of fibers found on the victim’s clothes with clothing found in Echols’s home and the serrated wound patterns on the three victims that were consistent with, and could have been caused by, a knife found in a lake behind appellant Baldwin’s parents’ residence….
Echols admitted on cross-examination that he had delved deeply into the occult and was familiar with its practices and where various items that had been found in his room supported the State’s theory of motive that the killings were done in a satanic ritual; where an expert in occult killings testified that there was significant evidence of satanic ritual killings; where a detective testified that Echols had made a statement regarding the mutilation of one of the victims that the jury could have reasonably concluded he would not have known about unless he had been involved in some manner; and where Echols’s testimony contained additional evidence of guilt….
Echols admitted on cross-examination in the penalty phase of the trial that he had an altercation with his father in which a knife was involved and the police were called; where he admitted that he was hospitalized that same day and that when his father came to the hospital, “I told him I would eat him alive”; where headmitted that he tried “to claw the eyes out” of a student; and where a psychologist who testified for Echols admitted that Echols had “an all-powerful God-like image of himself,” that his parents were concerned with his satanism or devil worship, and that Echols’s medical records included notations of statements by Echols pertaining, among other things, to his rage and the drinking of the blood of others….
Where one witness testified that appellant Baldwin had told him that he had dismembered one of the boys, sucked the bloodfrom his penis and scrotum, and put the testicles in his mouth, and where an expert on ritual killings stated that one of the facts that led him to believe that the killings were cult-related was that one of the victims had been castrated and had had the blood sucked from his penis, there was sufficient evidence of appellant Baldwin’s participation in occult activities, and the trial court correctly allowed the evidence….
Twelve-year-old Christy VanVickle testified that she heard Echols say he “killed the three boys.” Fifteen-year-old Jackie Medford testified that she heard Echols say, “I killed the three little boys and before I turn myself in, I’m going to kill two more, and I already have one of them picked out.” The testimony of these two independent witnesses was direct evidence of the statement by Echols….
Dr. Dale Griffis, an expert in occult killings, testified in the State’s case-in-chief that the killings had the “trappings of occultism.” He testified that the date of the killings, near a pagan holiday, was significant, as well as the fact that there was a full moon. He stated that young children are often sought for sacrifice because “the younger, the more innocent, the better the life force.” He testified that there were three victims, and the number three had significance in occultism. Also, the victims were all eight years old, and eight is a witches’ number. He testified that sacrifices are often done near water for a baptism-type rite or just to wash the blood away. The fact that the victims were tied ankle to wrist was significant because this was done to display the genitalia, and the removal of Byers’s testicles was significant because testicles are removed for the semen. He stated that the absence of blood at the scene could be significant because cult members store blood for future services in which they would drink the blood or bathe in it. He testified that the “overkill” or multiple cuts could reflect occult overtones. Dr. Griffis testified that there was significance in injuries to the left side of the victims as distinguished from the right side: People who practice occultism will use the midline theory, drawing straight down through the body. The right side is related to those things synonymous with Christianity while the left side is that of the practitioners of the satanic occult. He testified that the clear place on the bank could be consistent with a ceremony. In sum, Dr. Griffis testified there was significant evidence of satanic ritual killings….
Echols took the witness stand, and his testimony contained additional evidence of guilt. When asked about his statement that one victim was mutilated more than the others, he said he learned the fact from newspaper accounts. His attorney showed him the newspaper articles about the murders. On cross-examination, Echols admitted that the articles did not mention one victim being mutilated more than the others, and he admitted that he did not read such a fact in a newspaper….
Jason Baldwin does not contend that there was insufficient evidence of his guilt. This is, perhaps, in part, because of the testimony of Michael Carson, who testified that he talked to Baldwin about the murders. Carson’s testimony, in pertinent part, was abstracted as follows:
I said, just between me and you, did you do it. I won’t say a word. He said yes and he went into detail about it. It was just me and Jason [Baldwin]. He told me he dismembered the kids, or I don’t know exactly how many kids. He just said he dismembered them. He sucked the blood from the penis and scrotum and put the balls in his mouth. http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/19...4-928.html

describes abuse
Anne’s Story of Deliverance From Satanic Ritual Abuse and her Journey to Freedom – When Anne A Johnson Davis was just three years old, her mother and stepfather began to physically, sexually and mentally abuse her—in the name of Satan. Until she ran away from home at 17, her parents and other cult members subjected her to satanic ritual abuse, a criminally inhumane and bizarre form of devil worship. In the middle of the night, Anne would be drugged and forced to endure hours of ritualistic torture as a symbolic sacrifice. The horrors Anne experienced, the astounding miracles that helped her to survive, and the heal-or-die choices she made as an adult to triumph over her tragic past, are revealed in her new book Hell Minus One: My Story of Deliverance From Satanic Ritual Abuse and My Journey to Freedom. http://hellminus1.com/

Satanic Panic movie – inspired by witness accounts
These websites and the movie are very triggering and graphic.

http://www.satanicpanicthemovie.com

movie trailers are at youtube – they are very graphic

Adapted from Satanism and Occult-Related Violence: What You Should Know, by Michael D. Langone, Ph.D. and Linda Osborne Blood, c 1990, AFF
Satanism and Occult-Ritual Activity: Questions and Answers
How Prevalent are Satanism and other Occult-Related Activities?
No reliable scientific data can tell us how many people are involved, but a most disturbing trend has been the apparent increased interest among the young.
What are the Different Levels of Involvement?
1. “Dabblers,” usually teenagers who become attracted to Satanism on a relatively superficial level through easily-available books, heavy-metal music, fantasy role-playing games and the like;
2. “self-styled” or “psychopathic” Satanists, usually loners attracted to the more violent forms of satanism which are then grafted onto their pre-existing pathology;
3. “religious” Satanists involved in well-organized, publicly-acknowledged groups such as the Church of Satan or Temple of Set, and
4. “satanic cults,” the sophisticated, clandestine groups which may be engaged in criminal activities. These categories overlap.

http://icsahome.com/infoserv_articles...occult.htm

Chapter 17 THE COLD WAR AND BEYOND: COVERT AND DECEPTIVE AMERICAN MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION – SUSAN E. LEDERER, PHD – Military Medical Ethics, Volume 2….
HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION DURING THE COLD WAR ERA
The Nuremberg Code and the United States Government
The Human Radiation Experiments
The Central Intelligence Agency and “Mind-Altering” Substances
The US Army and Biological Warfare Tests in America….
“During the last decade Americans have increasingly confronted the tragic record of clandestine and deceptive human experimentation in the 20th century. Expert commissions have issued reports, the injured have sought and received financial compensation, and the government has apologized to citizen subjects of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the human radiation experiments. Lawsuits brought by veterans of biological, chemical, and atomic warfare studies continue to wend their way through the courts. These lawsuits permit a financial accounting of loss of life, liberty, and mental distress. They do not take into account the corrosion of trust in American researchers and the American government. Even more disturbing is the fear that these things could happen again unless adequate safeguards remain in effect and the lessons of the past are learned.” http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/p...-ch-17.pdf
from the book online
Military Medical Ethics Volume 2 – Section IV: Medical Ethics in the Military http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/p...sVol2.html

Amirault – Fells Acres Case

describes crimes
COMMONWEALTH vs. GERALD AMIRAULT. 404 Mass. 221 December 6, 1988 – March 6, 1989 Middlesex County Present: HENNESSEY, C.J., ABRAMS, NOLAN, & LYNCH, JJ…. During field trips, children sometimes remained at the school with Miss Cheryl, Miss Vi, or Tooky, due to ill health, bad behavior, late arrival, or early departure. Four of the children who testified in this case were occasionally left behind on field trips.
There was a regular nap time at Fells Acres after lunch, between 12:30 P.M. and 2:30 P.M. The children slept on cots set up in the classrooms. Because of overcrowding, children were often removed from their classroom and sent to another less crowded room during nap time. Generally, those children were called away by Miss Vi or Miss Cheryl….The children’s descriptions of the sexual abuse varied in some details but were similar over-all. Each of the children stated that he or she was forced to touch the defendant’s penis, to lick food from his penis, or that the defendant touched or put his penis in the child’s vagina or rectum. Some of the boys stated that the defendant had touched or kissed their penises. Some children testified that Tooky inserted various objects into their vaginas or rectums….
The children stated that they were threatened by Tooky or Miss Vi that if they told anyone about the incidents, that their parents, or family, would be killed, or cut up in pieces, or that the children would be sent away….The parents of the child witnesses testified about their children’s behavior while, or shortly after, attending Fells Acres. The children complained and cried about the school; they complained of stomachaches, headaches, pain in their genital areas, and bowel problems. They began bedwetting, lost their appetites, had nightmares, used baby talk, became fearful of lights, of men, and of being left alone. The children also displayed sexually explicit behavior; some began masturbating. Two of the boys tried to stick their tongues into their mothers’ mouths, and one tried to kiss his mother’s chest. http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/404/404mass221.html

describes crimes
COMMONWEALTH vs. VIOLET AMIRAULT (and eleven companion cases [Note 1]). COMMONWEALTH vs. GERALD AMIRAULT. 424 Mass. 618 October 9, 1996 – March 24, 1997 Middlesex County
Present: WILKINS, C.J., ABRAMS, LYNCH, O’CONNOR, GREANEY, FRIED, & MARSHALL, JJ….
“All nine children testified in a broadly consistent way. [Note 6] The children testified to numerous instances of sexual abuse. Some of the children testified that they were photographed during this abuse, describing a big camera with wires, a red button, and pictures which came out of the camera. The children testified that the defendant threatened them and told them that their families would be harmed if they told anyone about the abuse. Parents and relatives of the children testified and related the circumstances in which the children’s disclosures of abuse took place. These parents also testified to instances of extremely sexualized behavior on the part of the children including masturbation, sexualized play with dolls, boys sticking their tongues in the mouths of their mothers, and the simulation of sexual acts. Many of the children also developed generalized symptoms indicative of trauma such as bedwetting, baby talk, pain in their genital areas, headaches and stomach aches, and fearfulness. The Commonwealth presented a child psychiatrist who testified as to three major points. First, she testified that children who are abused often delay revealing the abuse out of fear, guilt, or lack of trust. Second, she described the sorts of sexualized behaviors abused children can show, acknowledging that although these behaviors can be prompted by circumstances other than abuse, they do occur most frequently in abused children. Third, she related nonspecific symptoms of trauma such as bedwetting, fearfulness. and babytalk which she claimed were common in abused children. The Commonwealth also presented a pediatric gynecologist and pediatrician who examined five of the girls who testified against Gerald. She made findings consistent with abuse in four of the girls….The parents of several children testified that their children developed pronounced sexual behavior and regressed to infantile behaviors such as bedwetting and baby talk. The same child psychiatrist who appeared at Gerald’s trial testified that these behaviors were commonly indicative of sexual abuse. http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/424/424mass618.html

Governor explains Amirault decision Says she needed to ‘live with myself’ By Douglas Belkin and Frank Phillips, Globe Staff, 2/21/2002….
In her announcement, Swift said her first consideration was whether there was “overwhelming evidence” to contradict the jury conviction and two decisions by the Supreme Judicial Court upholding the verdict.
“I concluded there was not,” she said. Swift said that she also considered the two guidelines for a commutation: that the sentence is too severe and that the person had made “exceptional strides in self-development.” ”Again, my answer was no,” Swift said. “I concluded after that review that the jury and the Supreme [Court] decisions should be upheld and that under the commutation guidelines commutation was not warranted,: Swift said….But ultimately, she said, she concluded that the sentence was appropriate and consistent with other cases. Pressed on how she could come up with a far different judgment than the five members of the Parole Board, Swift said her staff conducted “a more exhaustive review of all of the legal aspects” than the board did. http://web.archive.org/web/2002022123...ion+.shtml

Witness praises Amirault decision By John Ellement, Globe Staff, 2/23/2002 CAMBRIDGE – Jen Bennett wants to give Acting Governor Jane Swift a bear hug in appreciation, and she wants Gerald Amirault to admit he sexually abused her when she attended the Fells Acres Day Care Center in Malden in the 1980s. Bennett was one of nine children who testified against Amirault during his three-month trial in 1986, which ended with his conviction on multiple rape and molestation charges. He was sentenced to 30 to 40 years in prison….As for Amirault, ”I want to say to Mr. Amirault: Admit your guilt, you did this. He is where he is supposed to be. I will fight against you to the end. He destroyed my childhood.” Harriett Dell’Anno, whose daughter was one of the victims, echoed Bennett’s insistence that children were sexually violated and also thanked Swift for keeping Amirault in prison….Hardoon also said the quality of the investigation and the actions of prosecutors, police, and social workers working with the children were all scrutinized intensely during Gerald Amirault’s trial – and still the jury convicted.
He said Amirault supporters are focusing on 2 percent of the children’s claims that ‘’seem inexplicable and they are conveniently ignoring the 98 percent of the case that was overwhelming” against Amirault….Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, who inherited the case from former district attorneys Scott Harshbarger and Thomas F. Reilly, said Amirault’s insistence that he is innocent does not make it true. She drew a parallel between John Geoghan, the former Catholic priest sentenced to 9 to 10 years in prison Thursday for molesting a child. Like Amirault, Geoghan insisted that he, too, was innocent, she said. ”Admitting to child abuse is a very difficult and often, a never-seen thing,” she said. Coakley said it was time for Amirault and his supporters to end their pursuit of an early release from prison so that the victims can finally begin to fully heal from the trauma he caused them as children. http://web.archive.org/web/2002022404...ion+.shtml

Swift won’t free Tooky by David R. Guarino and Elisabeth J. Beardsley Wednesday, February 20, 2002 Convicted child molester Gerald “Tooky” Amirault lost his best shot at freedom yesterday, denied commutation of his sentence by acting Gov. Jane M. Swift in another stunning turn to the roller coaster abuse case. Swift rejected the unanimous July Parole Board recommendation that there was “real and substantial doubt” of Amirault’s guilt. Taking sides in a highly charged case as she drops in election-year polls, Swift said Amirault should be jailed at least until he’s up for parole in 2004 on his 30- to 40-year sentence. “She carefully analyzed every bit of information generated through the investigation and came to her decision that the verdict was just and the sentence was appropriate,” said Swift spokesman James Borghesani….victims rejoiced last night, praising the acting governor for standing up to the Parole Board and claiming vindication after years of doubts about the case. “All along, they’ve always told the truth,” said Harriet Dell’Anno of Lynn, whose daughter, Jamie, remains in therapy over the incidents. Barbara Standke of Tewksbury, whose son, Brian Martinello, was molested when he was 4, said, “He may be doing 20 years, but my son’s doing life.” Amirault, his sister, Cheryl LeFave, and their mother, Violet, were convicted after a parade of children told horror stories about being fondled, raped….

http://web.archive.org/web/2002030520...202002.htm

Human Experimentation

January 19, 2007 Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
Medical scholar Harriet Washington joins us to talk about her new book, “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present.” The book reveals the hidden underbelly of scientific research and the roots of the African American health deficit. It also examines less well-known abuses and looks at unethical practices and mistreatment of blacks that are still taking place in the medical establishment today….HARRIET WASHINGTON: …Tuskegee is, you know, the icon of abusive experimentation of black people, but it’s true, many people still don’t know what happened, and there are a lot of misconceptions floating about, as well….What happened was that about 400 black men in Macon County, Alabama, with syphilis-who had been diagnosed with syphilis, at least-were studied over a period of forty years by the United States Public Health Service. There were 200 men who were not infected who were held as a control group, also black men. Over the course of forty years, these men were duped into thinking that they were in a treatment program. But they weren’t. They were given pain pills, which, as it transpired, were simply aspirin. They were given spinal taps, which, as it transpired, were not for the good of their health or to monitor their health, but rather to ensure a supply of sera for the development of a syphilis test. So they were used over forty years, even after the advent of penicillin. When penicillin was recognized as a cure, it was withheld from these men.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And this was between-what was the forty-year span?
HARRIET WASHINGTON: 1932 to 1972.
AMY GOODMAN: How many people knew about this at the time? How did it stop?
HARRIET WASHINGTON: Hundreds of people knew about it, because there were regular reports in the medical journals, and it was actually presented at an American Medical Association meeting in 1965. There were also numerous meetings of governmental agencies, where they periodically would ask, “Should we continue the experiment or not?” And the decision was always, “Yes, we should continue the experiment.” It’s worth noting that the surgeon general, Thomas Parran, had taken on syphilis eradication as his mission, and yet when penicillin was devised and he had the cure, he made the decision to continue the experiment, because he said they represent an opportunity that will never come again.
AMY GOODMAN: What happened to the untreated men?
HARRIET WASHINGTON: The untreated men, as you can well imagine, many of them died horrible deaths. http://www.democracynow.org/2007/1/19...history_of

President Clinton’s public apology to U.S. survivors of human experimentation – The following is a portion of a speech given on 10/3/95 by President William C. Clinton concerning Executive Order 12975 – Protection of Human Research Subjects and Creation of National Bioethics Advisory Commission: “Thousands of government-sponsored experiments did take place at hospitals, universities, and military bases around our nation. Some were unethical, not only by today’s standards, but by the standards of the time in which they were conducted. They failed both the test of our national values, and the test of humanity. The United States of America offers a sincere apology to those of our citizens who were subjected to these experiments, to their families, and to their communities. When the government does wrong, we have a moral responsibility to admit it.” http://naffoundation.org/Pres%20Clint...pology.htm

Administration of William J. Clinton, 1995 Remarks on Accepting the Report of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments October 3, 1995 P. 1351…. “Thousands of Government-sponsored experiments did take place at hospitals, universities, and military bases around our Nation. The goal was to understand the effects of radiation exposure on the human body. While most of the tests were ethical by any standards, some were unethical, not only by today’s standards but by the standards of the time in which they were conducted. They failed both the test of our national values and the test of humanity. In one experience, scientists—experiment— scientists injected plutonium into 18 patients without their knowledge. In another, doctors exposed indigent cancer patients to excessive doses of radiation, a treatment from which it is virtually impossible that they could ever benefit….Informed consent means your doctor tells you the risk of the treatment you are about to undergo. In too many cases, informed consent was withheld. Americans were kept in the dark about the effects of what was being done to them. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-b..._vol2_misc
Vietnam Vets Can Proceed with Case Over CIA Testing of Electronic Implants, Mind Control by Jamie Ross 1/20/10 (CN) – A federal judge in San Francisco has given the green light to an action by Vietnam vets saying the CIA prevented roughly 7,000 human subjects from getting medical care after they were subjected to experiments on mind control, implantation of electronics and the effects of exotic drugs. Federal Judge Claudia Wilken allowed a challenge to the consent forms signed by individual plaintiffs involved in the experiments, to the extent that they required an oath of secrecy. At the same time, she dismissed the challenge to the legality of the CIA’s human testing program of the 1950s and ’60s….
The court also denied the CIA’s motion for judgment that the plaintiffs’ claims are time-barred and that the court lacks jurisdiction because the plaintiffs’ medical care “has been wrongfully withheld,” causing them injury due to the agency’s failure to act. The CIA and the U.S. Army experimented on human subjects in the 1950s. The experiments included exposing subjects to “various chemicals, drugs and/or the implantation of electronic devices” and “developing mind-control methods.”
About 7,800 armed services volunteers participated, but were not fully informed of the potential risks of the procedures. http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/01/20/23839.htm

describes graphic crimes
Ritual killing: A menace overlooked 1/15/10 As with countless incidents of ritual murder, predating the infamous Otokoto saga of 1996 and many others, the case of five people in Ibusa village, Oshimili Local Government Area of Delta State, recently killed on their farms is unlikely to elicit appropriate reaction from government and its law enforcement agencies….The Nigeria Police, State Security Service and other security agencies cannot claim to be unaware of the daily abduction and slaughter of innocent citizens for money-making rituals, appeasement of deities, and other purposes, ranging from electoral success and personal protection to magical powers. Perpetrators, abductors, witchdoctors and their patrons alike, have been emboldened by the indifference and inaction of the authorities. http://punchng.com/Article2Print.aspx...1150445492

Journal articles and child abuse and trauma information

Shanley recovered memory case, lost on appeal in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory...mory-case/

Mass. Court Denies Ex-Priest’s Bid for New Trial By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer 1/15/10 BOSTON….The victim, now in his 30s, claimed Shanley raped him repeatedly when he was a child attending catechism classes at a church in Newton. He said he repressed memory of the abuse for two decades until he saw media coverage of the clergy scandal in 2002.
The Supreme Judicial Court agreed with a Superior Court judge who ruled earlier that repressed memory theory, or ”dissociative amnesia,” is controversial, but generally accepted in the relevant scientific community. The high court said the theory is supported by ”a wide collection of clinical observations and a survey of academic literature.”….”Repressed memories of abuse is a legitimate phenomenon and provided a valid basis for the jury to find that the victim, a child at the time of the assaults, repressed memories of the years of abuse he suffered at the hands of Paul Shanley, someone who was in a significant position of authority and trust,” Leone said in a statement….During Shanley’s trial, the victim tearfully described how the popular priest used to pull him out of classes and rape him, beginning when he was just 6 years old and continuing until he was 12.
Shanley, now 78, was known in the 1960s and 1970s as a ‘’street priest” who reached out to Boston’s troubled youth. Internal records showed that church officials were aware of sexual abuse complaints against him as early as 1967. The clergy sex abuse crisis erupted in Boston in 2002 after church records were made public showing that church officials had reports of priests molesting children, but kept the complaints secret and shuffled some priests from parish to parish rather than remove them. The crisis, which led to the resignation of Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, spread as similar sexual abuse complaints were uncovered in dioceses across the country.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/world/ci_14199310

describes crimes
Defrocked priest Shanley is a victim of ‘injustice,’ his attorney says By John R. Ellement and Jonathan Saltzman, Globe staff 1/15/10 The state’s highest court today upheld the sexual assault convictions of defrocked Roman Catholic priest Paul M. Shanley, who claimed he was wrongly accused by a man who fabricated memories of being abused as a child. Shanley was a key figure in the priest abuse scandal that rocked the Boston Archdiocese….In its unanimous ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court said a Superior Court judge made the right decision when he allowed repressed memory evidence to be used against Shanley during his 2005 trial.
“In sum, the judge’s finding that the lack of scientific testing did not make unreliable the theory that an individual may experience dissociative amnesia was supported in the record, not only by expert testimony but by a wide collection of clinical observations and a survey of academic literature,” Justice Robert Cordy wrote for the SJC.
Shanley was prosecuted by Martha Coakley, who is now attorney general and a Democratic candidate for US Senate. Her successor, Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.,whose prosecutors defended the conviction before the SJC, applauded the ruling.
“As the SJC recognized, repressed memories of abuse is a legitimate phenomenon and provided a valid basis for the jury to find that the victim, a child at the time of the assaults, repressed memories of the years of abuse he suffered at the hands of Paul Shanley, someone who was in a significant position of authority and trust.”….
Wendy Murphy, who wrote a brief on behalf of victims rights, applauded the court in a statement. She said the ruling means “that the inability of a child to remember will never be used as a reason to deny a victim access to justice.”
Shanley’s convictions for two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery obtained by Middlesex prosecutors in 2005. The victim first made his accusations against Shanley in 2002, some 20 years after the abuse took place at St. Jean’s Church in Newton when the boy was between the ages of 6 and 11….During the trial, prosecutors had argued that the victim should be believed because the emotional trauma he suffered created a “dissociative amnesia,” which is recognized by the mental health profession as a legitimate psychiatric disorder.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/brea...in_sh.html

describes crimes
COMMONWEALTH vs. PAUL SHANLEY DOCKET SJC-10382 Dates: September 10, 2009 – January 15, 2010…. CORDY, J. On February 7, 2005, Paul Shanley was convicted of sexual abuse of a child: two indictments charging rape, in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 23; and two indictments charging indecent assault and battery on a person under the age of fourteen years, in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 13B. The abuse occurred between 1983 and 1989 when the victim was attending Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes at the church where the defendant served as a Catholic priest. The victim testified that he did not remember being abused by the defendant until nearly twenty years later, when he learned that other individuals had publicly made allegations that the defendant had sexually abused them when they were children. The victim’s testimony about what he remembered of that abuse constituted the core of the evidence against the defendant at trial….
Setting aside the victim’s testimony regarding the alleged sexual abuse, and the testimony of the Commonwealth’s expert, the jury could have found the following facts. The defendant was a priest at St. Jean’s Church in Newton during the years when the victim was enrolled in CCD classes there. He would often check on the children while they were in their CCD classes on Sundays. Children ranging from the ages of six to fourteen, including the victim, attended these classes.
The victim was born on September 9, 1977, and grew up in Newton with two siblings. His parents separated when he was four years of age and, after a short stay with his mother, he lived primarily with his father in his paternal grandmother’s house. The victim attended CCD classes with the same group of children at St. Jean’s Church from first grade (in 1983) until he reached eighth grade. During the years the victim attended CCD classes, some of the children became quite boisterous and periodically were required to leave the classroom. The victim and two of his friends in particular were disciplined often, both in the lower grades and when they were in fourth or fifth grade. On occasion, the defendant admonished those who were required to leave the classroom for misbehavior, and the victim was observed leaving the classroom with the defendant on several occasions….
The defendant began sexually abusing him when he was approximately six years of age and first began attending CCD classes. The defendant would take the victim out of his CCD class, bring him to the bathroom in the basement, unzip the victim’s pants watch him urinate, and then touch the victim’s penis with his hand and mouth.
The defendant also sexually assaulted the victim in the pews of the church after the victim put pamphlets in the pews for the upcoming Mass. He would do so by sitting next to the victim, putting his right arm around the victim, touching the victim’s penis through his clothes, and grabbing the victim’s hand and putting it on his own penis over his clothing. The defendant would also bring the victim into the confessional room which was located “off the side of the pews,” where the defendant would undress them both and place his finger in the victim’s anus….
The abuse of the victim continued until the defendant left the Newton church in 1990 when the victim was approximately thirteen years of age. The defendant told the victim that no one would ever believe him if he disclosed the abuse….
In describing how dissociative amnesia works, Dr. Chu testified that it is possible for a person to forget something and remember it later. Dr. Chu observed the phenomenon in his own clinical practice with adults who had been traumatized as children and explained that while it was not common in that population, it was “not at all rare.” He analogized dissociative amnesia to a type of forgetting, which “leads to people having really pervasive amnesia for not only [traumatic] events themselves, but [also] sometimes for neutral events or even good events.” He explained that persons who have experienced repeated traumatization suffer from dissociative amnesia more often than those who experience a single traumatic event.
He went on to testify that when a person remembers “so- called forgotten memories,” it is usually the result of a “trigger of some kind” which reminds that person of the traumatic experience.(10) While there was no typical pattern for the subsequent reaction of a traumatized person once there has been a trigger, the person may experience memory flashes or “body sensations.” More specifically, a person might experience physical sensations that mirror the sensations he or she incurred from the trauma itself (for example, genital pain where a person had suffered sexual abuse); or have a subsequent reaction to a trigger, become overwhelmed by the sudden onset of traumatic memories and experience “people panic,” that is, agitation, crying, and increased adrenaline….
Dr. Chu concluded by estimating that dissociative amnesia occurs in approximately twenty per cent of the seriously traumatized population….
Dr. Brown testified that based on his clinical experience, his review of thousands of studies regarding various aspects of memory, and his analysis of eighty-five studies focused on amnesia in childhood sexual abuse cases, many of which were subject to peer review, it was his opinion that dissociative amnesia exists for a clinically significant minority of traumatized individuals, including children subjected to sexual abuse. He also testified about the evolution of the use of dissociative amnesia as a diagnosis in the DSM, which has been revised several times. He opined that this diagnosis is generally accepted in the field and cited six surveys of psychology professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and clinicians working with war veterans to that effect. According to those surveys (taken collectively), eighty- nine per cent of those surveyed accepted the validity or possible validity of dissociative amnesia….
The judge denied the defendant’s motion to exclude expert testimony on dissociative amnesia and recovered memory, concluding that the diagnosis and theories behind it were generally accepted in the relevant scientific community. In doing so, the judge recognized the significance of its listing as a diagnosis in DSM-IV, and credited the testimony of Dr. Brown that “clinically significant minorities of [victims of child sexual abuse] experience amnesia,” testimony that was buttressed by the studies cited to and relied on by Dr. Brown which “reflect[ed] a broad-based acceptance of dissociative amnesia and recovery.”….
In her closing, the prosecutor stated:
“[The victim] is a twenty-seven year old man. He’s recently married. He has a job that he loves . . . . He has half a million dollars in his pocket. So why, ladies and gentlemen, did he come in here and tell you what happened to him? Why? What does your common sense tell you?
“You saw him on that stand for almost 14 hours day after day, hour after hour, he willed himself through that testimony. You saw it. What does your common sense tell you?
“He came in here and he told you what happened because that man, that defendant, that priest, raped him and molested him when he was a little boy over and over again. The defendant would have you believe it is all a lie. It’s for the money; that people don’t forget about things that happen to them and then later remember them. . . .
“Was it all a lie? Was it made up? Did [the victim] come in here and just lie about it? Was it for the money? He has the money. He got the money over nine months ago. No strings attached. What did he get from coming in here? The opportunity to be on the stand? He sustained long, painful questioning, and what did he get from it?

http://www.socialaw.com/slip.htm?cid=...mp;sid=120

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT SJC NO. 10382 AC NO. 2007-P-0886
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, Appellee v. PAUL SHANLEY, Appellant ON APPEAL FROM A JUDGMENT OF THE SUPERIOR COURT BRIEF OF THE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL AS AMICUS CURIAE
excerpts:
This Brief explains why Appellant’s position is wholly inaccurate regarding scientific acceptance of dissociative memory loss and why this Court’s determination that testimony on dissociative memory loss and recovery, from an otherwise qualified expert, is admissible without a Lanigan hearing, is correct. See Commonwealth v. Frangipane, 433 Mass. 527, 537-538 (2001)….
This brief provides important updated scientific and legal support further strengthening the Leadership Council’s position in that case. It should also be pointed out that the FMSF brief heavily relies on ad hominem arguments and false accusations of dishonesty and intentional misrepresentation….
That the brain can avoid conscious recall of traumatic information has long been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association and the professional mental health community. Indeed, it is explicitly described as a phenomenon in the 1994 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, the main diagnostic manual used by psychiatrists and psychologists….
The term “dissociative amnesia” appears as follows in section 300.12 of the DSM-IV: Dissociative amnesia is characterized by an inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. This definition, alone, demonstrates that the concept of recovered memory is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community….
Although some argue that inclusion of a diagnosis in the DSM-IV is not evidence of its scientific validity, the development of the manual was carefully planned and was based on rigorous scientific standards….
The DSM further notes that “[t]he reported duration of the events for which there is amnesia may be minutes to years. . . . Some individuals with chronic amnesia may gradually begin to recall dissociated memories.”….
Dissociative amnesia is also recognized by the World Health
Organization in their inclusion of this disorder in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10, 2007). F44.0 Dissociative amnesia
The main feature is loss of memory, usually of important recent events, that is not due to organic mental disorder, and is too great to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness or fatigue. The amnesia is usually centred on traumatic events, such as accidents or unexpected bereavements, and is usually partial and selective.
The ICD-10 is the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological, many health management purposes, and clinical use….
Delayed recall of abuse memories was also recognized in the American Psychological Association’s Final Report from the Working Group on Investigation of Memories of Childhood Abuse….
FMSF board member Elizabeth Loftus participated in the working group. As the judge in a past case noted:
. . . even Dr. Loftus conceded upon cross-examination that the APA policy which she helped to create notes that “it is possible for memories of abuse that have been forgotten for a long time to be remembered . . .” The language of the APA report indicates that the challenge to recovered memories which is included therein concerns
the mechanism by which the delayed recall occurs, rather than the fact of its occurrence . . . Furthermore, Dr. Loftus acknowledged that dissociation from a traumatic event is a recognized phenomenon….
The most thoughtful report on recovered memories was issued by the British Psychological Society. British Psychological Society, Report by the Working Group on Recovered Memories (1995). After an investigation of the effect of trauma on memory, the Society concluded that “forgetting of certain kinds of trauma is often reported” for very different kinds of trauma ranging from war trauma to childhood sexual abuse. The report further concluded that the available evidence suggests that between one third and two thirds of abuse victims have periods of time when they “totally or partially forgot the abuse.”….
In summary, there is ample evidence that traumatic memory loss and recovery is accepted by the major scientific organizations representing mental health practitioners. This wealth of documentation and professional acknowledgment contrasts sharply with that for socalled “false memory syndrome,” which, despite years of attention in the media, has failed to be supported by research and is not recognized as a valid diagnostic entity by any national or international health organization. Thus, those who argue against the mind’s ability to dissociate and later recover memories are in the minority….
In summary, not only is there is ample evidence that traumatic amnesia and recovery of memories is accepted by major scientific organizations, there is also strong support for the conclusion that dissociative amnesia is generally accepted among mental health practitioners. Thus evidence regarding traumatic amnesia and/or recovered memory is reliable and admissible in judicial proceedings….
It is notable that every single one of the studies specifically addressing the issue of substantial forgetting of childhood sexual abuse, researchers found that some sub-group within the sample reported either full or partial substantial forgetting for the childhood sexual abuse. Moreover, in Dr. Loftus’ own study of memories of sexual abuse, designed specifically to eliminate some of the flaws she identified in previous studies, 12% claimed to remember
parts but not all of the abuse, while 19% claimed that they forgot the abuse for a period of time, and later the memory returned. Loftus, E. F., et al., Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Remembering and Repressing 18 Psychol. of Women Q. 67 (1994)….
Researchers are also beginning to study dissociative amnesia with sophisticated neuroimaging equipment. A recent study shows persuasive evidence that dissociative amnesia is associated with an altered pattern of neural activity which reverses with memory recovery. Kikuchi, H., Fujii, T., Abe, N., et al., Memory Repression: Brain Mechanisms Underlying Dissociative Amnesia, J Cogn Neurosci. (March 20, 2009) [Epub ahead of print]….
The researchers concluded, “Our findings provide direct evidence that memory repression in dissociative amnesia is associated with an altered pattern of neural activity, and they suggest the possibility that the pFC has an important role in inhibiting the activity of the hippocampus in memory repression.” Id. This study is particularly important as it provides significant biological proof of the existence of dissociative amnesia, thereby taking the debate out of the realm of pure psychological theory….
In summary, numerous studies looking at whether the brain can suffer dissociative memory loss regarding childhood sexual abuse have found that some sub-group within the sample reported either full or partial substantial forgetting for the events. No study that has specifically examined for evidence of memory loss in traumatized population samples has failed to sustain this finding, which has been confirmed by neuroimaging research and laboratory studies that show how people are able to suppress other types of unwanted information from entering their conscious mind. Simply put, the science is clear and overwhelming that dissociative amnesia is a recognized reaction to childhood sexual abuse and other traumas….
Research Indicates that Recovered Memories and Continuous Memories are of Equal Accuracy
The reliability of the information recalled after a period of forgetting has been documented in a number of carefully performed studies. These studies have found that, when subjected to independent corroboration, continuous memories and spontaneously recovered memories (like those recovered by the plaintiff in the current case) are of similar accuracy….
Even Elizabeth Loftus, outspoken advocate for defendants in cases involving traumatic memories, has opined that the Williams study validates the experience of child sexual abuse victims who report an inability to recall memories of the abuse until years after the abuse has ended. Bass, A., Study Finds Traumatic Memories Can Be Recovered, The Boston Globe (January 26, 1995)….
In another study, Elke Geraerts, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, examined the validity of recovered memories by attempting to corroborate the memories through outside sources. Geraerts, E., Schooler, J.W., Merckelbach, H., et al., The Reality of Recovered Memories: Corroborating Continuous and Discontinuous Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Psychological Science 564-568 (2007)….The researchers concluded that abuse memories that are spontaneously recovered may indeed be just as accurate as memories that have persisted since the time the incident took place….
Moreover, and contrary to claims that recovered memories are primarily the result of suggestive psychotherapy, most recovery of traumatic memories have been found to occur outside of therapy. In Wilsnack, S. C., et al.’s study of over 700 women, less than 2% of women with delayed recall reported remembering the abuse with the help of a therapist or other professional person. The vast majority of memories were recovered spontaneously in other contexts….
For example, after reviewing the literature, cognitive psychologists Lindsay and Read concluded: In our reading, scientific evidence has clear implications…. there are few grounds to doubt spontaneously recovered memories of common forms of CSA or recovered memories of details of never-forgotten abuse. Lindsay, D. S., & Read, J. D., “Memory Work” and Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Scientif