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, Saskatchewan alleged that a local woman who ran a babysitting service and day care center in her home had sexually abused her child. Police began an investigation and allegations began to snowball. More than a dozen persons, including five police officers from two different forces, ultimately faced over 100 charges connected with running a Satanic cult called The Brotherhood of The Ram, which allegedly practiced ritualized sexual abuse of numerous children at a "Devil Church".^[1]

The son of the day care owner was tried and found guilty, then a Royal Canadian Mounted Police task force took over the investigation. It concluded the original investigation was motivated by "emotional hysteria.^[2] In 2003, defendants sued for wrongful prosecution.^[3] In 2004, Richard and Kari Klassen received $100,000 each, their share of the $1.5 million compensation package awarded for the malicious prosecution.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Satanic Sex Scandal". CBC News. February 12, 2003. http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/martin/scandal.html. Retrieved 2007-10-31. "The nightmare that descended on Martensville, Saskatchewan began when a local mother had some grave suspicions. She worked as a nurse at a Saskatoon hospital and left her kids with a babysitter only a few blocks from her home. ... By the spring of 1992 Martensville was reeling with rumours about a Satanic cult called The Brotherhood of The Ram that had police officers as members. It was an explosive situation and the Martensville police were under tremendous pressure to do something about it." 
2. ^ "Policeman gets $1.3 million in Martensville settlement". CBC News. 2002-06-19. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2002/06/18/popowich020618.html. Retrieved 2009-02-06. "Travis Sterling, son of the day care's owners, was convicted of two counts of sexual assault. He was the only person convicted. ... Early reports of the case suggested the alleged abuse was part of a satanic ritual, but after an RCMP task force took over the investigation, it concluded the original investigation was motivated by "emotional hysteria."" 
3. ^ "Wrongly accused in ritual abuse case launch $10 million suit". CBC News. 2003-09-09. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/09/09/abuse_suit030909.html. Retrieved 2008-09-29. 
4. ^ "Settlement details released for Sask. couple accused of child abuse". CBC News. 2004-11-19. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/11/18/klassen041118.html. Retrieved 2008-10-03. "Richard and Kari Klassen received $100,000 each, a share of a $1.5 million compensation package for malicious prosecution."