It was recently pointed out to me that the spiraling down in the quality of reporting can at least partially be laid at the feet of the introduction of the GST (Goods and Services Tax) in 2000. From that time on, the sole measure of success has been revenue as most major media outlets were taken over by bean counters, with quality investigative reporting being the first and biggest casualty.
The growth of the internet and the nature of the news cycle has only quickened our rush to Salem. The Shouting of "witch" is all the evidence anyone needs. Post-truth meets the Inquisition. The balance between protecting alleged victims and protecting the rights of the accused is one that must be set at the right level. We are in danger of going from too far one way to going too far the other.
Early this year, an alarming story broke that highlights the issue.
It was widely reported, and picked up internationally, that a circus training school in the Blue Mountains had been involved in kidnaps, rapes, tortures, exploitation and ritual abuse of 3 boys aged from 3 to 7. This all allegedly happened between 2014 and 2016 and involved 4 members of the one family and 3 others who at the time of the alleged offenses, were still under 18.
The mass media lapped it up and printed anything and everything it could get on the story. By and large, reports seemed to be based on the assumption of guilt, even when using the essential qualifiers. Social media lapped it up, with whole groups ready to grab pitch forks to mete out justice on the by now named adults who had been arrested (and who are still behind bars awaiting bail hearings). It was simply click-worthy, and that means dollars! And the more bizarre, evil and depraved the allegations, the better. Come and get yer daily does of righteous anger!
Here is just one sample of what was being published in early February.
Police said the seven alleged offenders were involved in a New South Wales circus training school called The Arcade Circus that catered to children with and without disabilities.
The charges include rape, kidnapping and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. It is alleged that members of the group also used the young boys to produce child pornography material.
Some trainers are accused of performing sadistic "blood rituals" on the young boys, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The circus school owner and carer, Therese Ann Cook, 58, is listed to appear in Penrith Local Court on Tuesday.
Cook has been charged with 43 offences, including aggravated sexual assault of a child under 10, sexual intercourse with a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping
More at https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/101199910/blood-rituals-child-pornography-aussie-circus-school-allegedly-tortured-young-kids
The allegations had a familiar ring - think Pizzagate and the VIP pedophile ring in England. Neither true - both stories filled with horror and depravity.
But it was also reminiscent of something more local - in fact a 2012 story from the very same Blue Mountains.
It involved an adult female in 2012 who was taken in by a religious cult which specialized in bringing out alleged suppressed childhood memories. Or put another way, they used typical cult techniques to induce what is known as False Memory Syndrome.
Written by a variety of people, the papers are at once bizarre, comic and sinister. Some appear to document Kylie's "treatment" - regression sessions, mainly, where she would relive childhood traumas and write in an infantile scrawl details of unimaginable abuse, including being showered in a purée of human body parts, being sexually assaulted and forced to drink blood.
The documents also indicate that the group believed themselves to be engaged in spiritual warfare with witches - both in the Blue Mountains and in Sydney - some of whom are identified by their name, age, employment and "coven status". "One of them is my aunt, who lives in Harbord," says Nathan.
The documents also confirm the group's involvement with a man named John Darnell, who is the pastor of a church in Canberra called Shepherd's Heart. Darnell is the author of Satanic Strategies in the 21st Century, which explains how Satanic cults have infiltrated the "highest echelons" of government and mainstream churches. On a US Christian radio station last year, Darnell said he believed it was possible that the British royal family were actually shape-shifting reptiles.
More at https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/spirited-away-20120312-1utb6.html
The stories do have certain similarities, for example, in the above, the "victim" is forced to drink blood. In this latest case, the kids were allegedly forced to drink their own blood in hints of the Satanic practices the cult claimed to be at war with. Here, we have a free-living circus family. Perfect if you are looking to point and shout "witch" and "find" the work of Satan.
If this family is innocent, then the media has sacrificed them in search of revenue by providing the trial by media the police seemed eager to produce by leaking the case to reporters like a sieve - including the now denied (and at this stage, seemingly false) allegation that some of this abuse was filmed for child porn. In fact, the evidence may be nothing more than the statements of the alleged victims. Police do not encourage trial by media unless the case they have is not strong.
If these people turn out to be guilty, even of a single one of the over 100 charges laid, they deserve everything the criminal justice system can throw at them. But if they are innocent, heads should roll for those involved in the police investigation and their media assets. No amount of money could possibly compensate them, so any payout should be huge.
There are as yet some unanswered questions, such as why, if these very young boys were kidnapped 2 to 4 years ago, there was no media coverage at the time? Child kidnap cases are always big stories. That it was not in the media suggests there is something about this particular allegation that is being withheld. I also await some news on the background of these very young boys. Were they by any chance, children of members a certain secretive religious group looking for witches to burn? If so, maybe they will claim the shape-shifting alien lizards told them to do it.
I see there was another twist at the latest hearing that is heading the case in the right direction. Nothing though will ever cover up how incredibly sad and destructive it has been for all concerned since it first exploded into the tabloids. I truly hope everyone is holding up. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6785601/Alleged-victim-Blue-Mountains-sex-ring-wrote-note-saying-lied.html
Am nominating for the senate in both state and federal elections. Being for the senate, I need votes and support from around the state. I hope some of you will look at the policies proposed and if you like what you see, get behind my run. https://www.thenewdisease.space/forum/society-politics/running-for-the-senate I would also be interested in any state and federal policy issues you feel strongly should be addressed.
If that is what is happening, it absolutely is, but that would just be piling on what they have already been subjected to in "aiding" their memories.
Adjourned until February because three of the alleged victims have been reinterviewed and it will take until then to transcribe all of this new "evidence"? Is this a desperate attempt to salvage a case where charges should never have been laid to begin with?
A case history from the files of the National Center for Reason and Justice in the US:
There was another crucial piece of evidence that Elsie’s lawyers failed to introduce or discuss during the trial. On September 1, 1995, Vermont policewoman Linda Carey conducted a tape-recorded interview with four-year-old Joey Oscarson, in the presence of Jennifer Dawson, his foster mother. It is apparently the only direct evidence that exists of what either of the children actually said in the days soon after the allegations arose. (The police tried to record an interview with Jesse, but the microphone battery was dead.) This interview transcript is revealing and appalling. Joey clearly wanted only to play with toys and did not at first respond to the many leading questions asked him. By this time, Joey had been repeatedly interviewed in a leading manner by at least five people. Yet he had not been forthcoming, and he was not very cooperative in this interview, either, beginning with the attempt to verify that he understood the difference between the truth and a lie. Carey asked him to identify a toy automobile, but he insisted that it was an airplane, that it did not drive down the street, and that it traveled in the water. “Do you have blonde hair?” she asked him. [He apparently did have blonde hair.] No, he said. He claimed it was black, then said he was kidding. “Where is Jennifer?” she asked, and he said that she was at home, when in fact she was sitting in the room with them. So it was pretty clear that whatever Joey said was not going to be very trustworthy. But that didn’t bother Carey. She forged on.
“You told Jen Jen that Mom did some other stuff, didn’t you?” Joey: “Nah.” Carey persisted: “What did you tell Jen Jen?” Joey said that Jen Jen told his mother not to break the light. Carey persisted: “What other things did you tell Jen Jen?” Joey: “Nothing.” So that is the pattern of this interview. Joey wasn’t saying what Carey wanted, but she would not take No for an answer. This is all too familiar to those who deal with cases in which children are led into making false allegations.
Carey became more explicit: “When I talked to Jesse, Jesse was telling me about some stuff that happened at your old house with Mom. Did you ever see anything happen with Jesse at your old house?” Joey: “No.” Carey, obviously unhappy with this answer: “No? Did you ever see Mom that made… wasn’t right, was a bad touch?” Joey: “No.” Carey persisted. “But Jesse told me something else too…about Mom touching him some place…. Did you see that? No? What happened to Jesse?” Joey: “Don’t know.”
Finally, on page 24 of the interview transcript, Carey had worn Joey down and he said, “She licks it,” referring to his pee-pee. But Joey was clearly not the least bit interested in this. Carey asked about how she licked his pee pee with her lips, and Joey responded, “You don’t have no more,” about the checkers they were playing with. Carey asked, “How does that make you feel, Joey?” but he ignored her and played with the checkers.
Carey wrote up her report of this interview. “He understands the difference between truth and lie, although at times he can be observed to have a smirking facial expression, answers incorrectly, and states ‘kidding.’ “ Out of the lengthy interview, she extracted and quoted only those statements that Joey was finally pressured into making about “Mom touches my peepee” etc.
In summary — Elsie Oscarson obviously struggled as a mother. Before she was incarcerated, she had eight children by three different men. She held only infrequent jobs and lived primarily on welfare. But all that is not relevant to why she is serving a life sentence for a crime she did not commit. The full story and other case studies here: https://ncrj.org/cases/
Indeed,
Yes, my impression was that she only brought it up because she thought that was the reason for seeking bail. And I did not hear her say that that she didn't think bizarre allegations must be weak. I heard her say that just because they are bizzare does not mean that they are not true. But then we all know hearing and memory can be deceptive. The press only focused on this part. But it was still scary to hear it because it bodes ill for any future trial. No idea of trial date. We are all in limbo. But hopefully can have a bit of respite. And at least they are out, can see friends and some family, eat decent food and be surrounded by those who love them, and it is obvious they were not considered a risk to the community. I still worry though that it will be a trial by media when it happens.
To be fair to the judge she was only there to look at the bail application. The file she had was about 2 inches thick! It was only for her to decide on bail not on the charges, and once she understood the reasons she had no hesitation in granting it. Also the prosecution did not oppose and she did take into consideration the amount of time they had already been incarcerated. None of this was mentioned, of course, by the media. It was obvious she did not consider them a risk and there are strict bail conditions. Interesting enough in the case just before this she was concerned about the safety of the victim if bail were granted but she also noted that there should be a psychiatric assessment on the accused and was concerned this had not been done and that the person then could not receive appropriate treatment. She seemed like a moderate and very polite woman- unlike some magistrates I have come across closer to home!
More stories have appeared since I looked earlier today. Oddly, channel 7 and channel 9 have posted the exact same story word for word. https://au.news.yahoo.com/bail-alleged-nsw-arts-school-abusers-052257492--spt.html https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/08/23/15/24/bail-for-alleged-nsw-arts-school-abusers At least the shared story does hint at the support that was there... but otherwise, the same old same old...
I only found the one report - in the Australian. I did wonder why there was no mention of any support - which I knew would have been there. No there will be no attention given to the terrible, biased reporting - not by the mainstream media. That would entail self-examination and also may be an admission that they are liable for damages.
All out. Hope they continue to cope outside as they have inside. I imagine there are a whole new set of horrors to deal with from public recognition and judgment. My very best to them, fwiw.
Looking through some of the stories again over the last few days, it dawned on me that none have allowed comments. So police have really had total control of everything printed about this story without any rebuttal or contrary information being allowed to be seen.
I think I am at the point of really wanting to address that one way traffic, but will hold fire until we see how the next bail hearing goes. This situation of readers being fed fantastical lies without the other side of the story being told is prejudicial, unjust, absurd and the sort of thing expected only in dictatorships.
JW sent to trial on child molestation charges. Defence claims false memory syndrome.
https://patch.com/california/fountainvalley/jehovahs-witness-accused-child-molestation-claims-false-allegations
Didn't work. He was found guilty.
https://www.ocregister.com/2017/04/28/santa-ana-man-guilty-of-molesting-girls-he-met-through-church-congregation/
In case anyone is collecting links to stories on this...
http://www.watching-movies.com/yyani-cook-williams.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-care_sex-abuse_hysteria
More historical cases with uncanny similarities:
An 11 yo girl's parents take civil action against grandmother over alleged sexual assault by her and deceased grandfather in "secret caves", Also claims to have been drugged and forced to drink blood.
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-22/local/me-751_1_satanic-ritual
The McMartin Day Care case:
In The Devil in The Nursery, Margaret Talbot for The New York Times summarized the case:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial
The McMartin case opened the flood gates to the Great Satanic Abuse scare
In one of those cases, for example, seven people were convicted and imprisoned for sexually molesting children as part of a satanic cult. The only direct evidence against them came from the testimony of children, who claimed that they had been injected with drugs and forced to drink urine and to engage in bizarre sexual acts with adults, as well as with other children, while the activities were being filmed. The children also accused the defendants of murdering at least 20 babies, using their blood in rituals, and engaging in cannibalism. Some of the children later recanted their stories (Washington Post, May 31, 1989). Then, in 1990, the convictions were overturned after being appealed.
The Role of the Mass Media
Another reason for the persistence of allegations of ritual abuse is that they provide sensational "atrocity stories" for the mass media to attract readers and audiences. Small town newspapers are particularly likely to simply report the stories of bizarre "satanic" activities, without much skepticism or critical analysis. The McMartin Preschool case offers an excellent example of the social dynamics of media sensationalism. The case began with proliferating allegations of hundreds of children being subjected over years to rape, anal, oral and group sexual activity, pornography sessions, naked games, animal mutilations, baby killings, cannibalism, secret tunnels, and transportation to distant places, sometimes by airplane, all done in a context of satanic rituals. The Los Angeles Times published a detailed analysis of the media's coverage of the case, including its own reporting (Shaw, Jan.19, 1990; Shaw, Jan.20, 1990; Shaw, Jan.22, 1990). Its conclusions apply equally well to similar cases, which arise continually in other locations and which do not receive national attention.
http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume3/j3_3_1.htm
What all the cases looked at in this discussion point to, is that such false allegations are not a geographic phenomenon, but psychosocial where the pathogen is spread by injections of data - both true and false) from police to mass media and the made viral via social media. The other lesson is that innocence is no protection from persecution, let alone prosecution.
there is a pattern to the accusations and there is a pattern to the police response. That the police here have done precisely what police forces have done here and in the US in the past, for example by making false claims of ritual abuse being filmed, is extremely concerning.
Just my opinion, but these historical cases need to be made part of the defence because they create reasonable doubt about both the accusations and police conduct.
That's how it appears to me, Peter, unless I'm misunderstanding the legislation - which is possible.
Hi all , good point about the supression order Greg , i would have thought that in the interest and well-being of these children the Child Protection Agency assigned to this case would have made sure it wasn't lifted or is it more important to trash these INNOCENT people,s names
A very telling quote from this story:
Police leaked the (false) information to the tabloids that pornographic videos and books about Satanic rites had been seized during the raid; the prosecution claimed (but produced no evidence) that they had “dressed in white robes and certain occult things happened”; and a rent-a-crowd of women unconnected with the case mobbed the Derens outside the court, screaming”dirty, disgusting scum”.
Are we seeing a pattern yet?
Here is the legislation regarding the use of suppression orders to protect the identity of alleged child sexual assault victims.
https://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publications/benchbks/local/Non-publication_and_suppression_orders.html
As I understand it, the alleged victims and the accused, knew each other. If so, then the lifting of the suppression order may lead some to work out the identities of the kids.
If all of the above is correct, the lifting of the suppression order on this family is difficult to understand. The suppression was for the safety and well-being of the kids, Why was it lifted?