McMartin Pre-school (Satanic Panic)
During the 1980’s Satan
influence on society had become
more evident through various media exposure such as metal rock, television,
books, etc. Many believed that this cultural hysteria, also known as the
“Satanic Panic” not only wanted to convince every one of the devils prowling in
our everyday lives, but also that it had effective everyone in society,
especially the younger generation.
The “Satanic
Panic” is believed to be the main cause of many crimes committed around the
time of this up rise. The most prominent case around the 1980’s was the
McMartin preschool case. The owners and teachers of the preschool were accused
of child molestation, and this became the longest and most expensive trial in
U.S history at the time.
It all
started with a mother whose two year old son attended the preschool had come up
with the idea that her child was abused and molested due to him having
continuous nightmares, and not being able to sit properly. This was the start
to a big controversial issue, and the up rise to a trial that lasted from 1984-1990.
Later, the mother who first accused the preschool for any wrongdoings to the
child was found to be in a paranoid state of mind. This case had involved over
100 preschoolers, in which they sit in with counselors who asked questions that
may or may not have led the children providing the answers they were seeking. An
enormous amount of children claimed to have been molested in different ways, and
even claimed to have seen different satanic rituals such as animal sacrifice after
many hours and days of questioning. At first, society had no choice but to
believe the children, and were forced to believe that the wrongdoings did
indeed take place. This was definitely a rough time in civilization, and the
issue makes it even worse being that the victims were extremely young children.
This is in fact is the case because children are innocent beings in the world.
They do not have the mental or physical capacity equivalent to grown adults.
After a
lengthy trial, those accused were seen as innocent, and not guilty by the jury.
They had realized that the counselors who had questioned all the children of
the preschool never really gave them any other options but to agree to what
they were allocating. Not once did a child’s
question state that they were abused and molested by any adult at the McMartin
preschool. Many were angry and thought that justice had not been served. But,
there was not enough evidence to support the allegations put out on any of the
teachers that worked at the preschool. This was a big turning point, and people
learned that media played a huge impact on the way that society had viewed different
issues. Satan and the demonic satanic ways were presented in many ways due to
the fact that it was mentioned as one of the various things that the teachers
had done wrong.
Society was
left believing that justice was not served, but professionals were given
clarity through the lack of evidence. Although this is not the only case
related to the “Satanic Panic” it is one of the most challenging cases at the
time. This and the few other cases that occurred were believed to have happened
in order for Americans to get back into church and to have a rise in religion.
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcmartin/mcmartinaccount.html- Full explanation on
the trial
-Maleka Benjamin
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