A Skeptical FBI Agent's Investigation Guide for Ritual Child Abuse

From INVESTIGATOR'S GUIDE TO ALLEGATIONS OF "RITUAL" CHILD ABUSE, by Kenneth V. Lanning:

Since 1981 I have been assigned to the Behavioral Science Unit at
the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and have specialized in
studying all aspects of the sexual victimization of children. The
FBI Behavioral Science Unit provides assistance to criminal justice
professionals in the United States and foreign countries. It
attempts to develop practical applications of the behavioral
sciences to the criminal justice system. As a result of training and
research conducted by the Unit and its successes in analyzing
violent crime, many professionals contact the Behavioral Science
Unit for assistance and guidance in dealing with violent crime,
especially those cases considered different, unusual, or bizarre.
This service is provided at no cost and is not limited to crimes
under the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI.

In 1983 and 1984, when I first began to hear stories of what sounded
like satanic or occult activity in connection with allegations of
sexual victimization of children (allegations that have come to be
referred to most often as "ritual" child abuse), I tended to believe
them. I had been dealing with bizarre, deviant behavior for many
years and had long since realized that almost anything is possible.
Just when you think that you have heard it all, along comes another
strange case. The idea that there are a few cunning, secretive
individuals in positions of power somewhere in this country
regularly killing a few people as part of some satanic ritual or
ceremony and getting away with it is certainly within the realm of
possibility. But the number of alleged cases began to grow and grow.
We now have hundreds of victims alleging that thousands of offenders
are abusing and even murdering tens of thousands of people as part
of organized satanic cults, and there is little or no corroborative
evidence. The very reason many "experts" cite for believing these
allegations (i.e. many victims, who never met each other, reporting
the same events), is the primary reason I began to question at least
some aspects of these allegations.

I have devoted more than seven years part-time, and eleven years
full-time, of my professional life to researching, training, and
consulting in the area of the sexual victimization of children. The
issues of child sexual abuse and exploitation are a big part of my
professional life's work. I have no reason to deny their existence
or nature. In fact I have done everything I can to make people more
aware of the problem Some have even blamed me for helping to create
the hysteria that has led to these bizarre allegations. I can accept
no outside income and am paid the same salary by the FBI whether or
not children are abused and exploited - and whether the number is
one or one million. As someone deeply concerned about and
professionally committed to the issue, I did not lightly question
the allegations of hundreds of victims child sexual abuse and
exploitation.

In response to accusations by a few that I am a "satanist" who has
infiltrated the FBI to facilitate cover-up, how does anyone (or
should anyone have to) disprove such allegations? Although reluctant
to dignify such absurd accusations with a reply, all I can say to
those who have made such allegations that they are wrong and to
those who heard such allegations is to carefully consider the
source.

The reason I have taken the position I have is not because I support
or believe in "satanism", but because I sincerely believe that my
approach is the proper and most effective investigative strategy. I
believe that my approach is in the best interest of victims of child
sexual abuse. It would have been easy to sit back, as many have, and
say nothing publicly about this controversy. I have spoken out and
published on this issue because I am concerned about the credibility
of the child sexual abuse issue and outraged that, in some cases,
individuals are getting away with molesting children because we
can't prove they are satanic devil worshippers who engage in
brainwashing, human sacrifice, and cannibalism as part of a large
conspiracy.

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