International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 8, 2017 25
trash pit, and that “confirmatory bias” had led
him to perceive evidence that was not there, and
misinterpret other evidence that was present.
55F
56
In Canada, a similar concern over leading and
biased questions by child welfare workers when
interviewing children appeared in a high-profile
child welfare case in the Hamilton-Wentworth
region of Ontario. In what became Canada’s
longest and costliest child welfare hearing,
District Court Judge Thomas Beckett heard
testimony about
ritual murder, cannibalism, gross sexual abuse
and Satanism involving [two girls’] mother,
father, and their mother’s boyfriend….
56F
57 The
girls themselves were too young to testify, so
their foster mother and other adults (such as
Children’s Aid workers) spoke on their behalf in
the courtroom.
57F
58 A police officer, however, who
had spent time with the girls testified that they
had told him “that their lurid and bizarre
allegations about murder and cannibalism were
‘all a big story.’”
58F
59
Believing that the girls were telling adults what
they thought the adults wanted to hear, the
officer mentioned in testimony that one of the
Children’s Aid Society social workers “offered
the girls an inducement in the form of a promise
of a future visit to Canada’s Wonderland [which
is an amusement park] and threatened them that
they would not go home until they found a
graveyard where babies were allegedly
buried.”
59F
60 The officer also reported that the
children had indicated that adults had used their
home’s backyard to temporarily bury bodies, but
police were unable to find evidence that the
ground had been dug up or disturbed.
60F
61 Despite
56 W. Joseph Wyatt, 2002, “What Was Under the McMartin
Preschool? A Review and Behavioral Analysis of the ‘Tunnels’
Find,” Behavior and Social Issues, 12, 29–39.
57 “Macabre Ritual Murder, Satanism Tales, ”1986 (November 27),
Lloydminster Daily Times.
58 Kevin Marron, 1986 (July 16), “Case Raises Spectre of a Violent
Cult,” Globe and Mail, A1.
59 Kevin Marron, 1986 (July 4), “Officer Says Children
Manipulated,” Globe and Mail, A14.
60 Marron, 1986 (July 14): A14.
61 Marron, 1986 (July 14): A14.
the officer’s reservations about the quality of the
evidence, the judge (in late March 1987) made
the two girls wards of the Crown and prohibited
their parents from ever seeing their daughters
again.
61F
62
Reporter Kevin Marron sat through the entire
case, and the year after it concluded he
published a book on the whole affair. He
concluded,
[i]n the absence of other credible explanations,
we cannot afford to dismiss the possibility that
these [children’s] allegations point to the
activities of groups engaged in satanic ritual, or
pornography, or both, and that there may be
some communications or connection between
such groups.
62F
63
In a related book that he published in 1989,
Marron continued to reflect upon the child
welfare case:
Having observed the Hamilton case first hand
and done further research on investigation of the
issue, I do not accept the theory that child care
workers have invented the concept of ritual
abuse or that the child victims have imagined or
fabricated their allegations—but I do not know
what it all means. Rather than accept the idea of
a network of cults, for which there is little
evidence, I am more inclined to believe that this
kind of abuse is perpetrated by disturbed
individuals who have been influenced by
Satanism or some other similar beliefs. I think it
also is possible that people are using the
trappings of Satanism either as a theme for
sadistic pornography or as a means of
frightening children into complying with sexual
abuse.
63F
64
Although he was not sure about what to make of
the children’s allegations and did know about
the alleged leading questions posed by at least
one Children’s Aid worker, Marron remained
62 Kevin Marron and Drew Fagan, 1987 (March 31), “Ritual-abuse
Girls Made Crown Wards,” Globe and Mail, A1.
63 Kevin Marron, 1988, Ritual Abuse: Canada’s Most Infamous
Trial on Child Abuse, p. 239 (Toronto, Canada: Seal Books).
64 Kevin Marron, 1989, Witches, Pagans, &Magic in the New Age,
p. 204 (Toronto, Canada: Seal Books).
trash pit, and that “confirmatory bias” had led
him to perceive evidence that was not there, and
misinterpret other evidence that was present.
55F
56
In Canada, a similar concern over leading and
biased questions by child welfare workers when
interviewing children appeared in a high-profile
child welfare case in the Hamilton-Wentworth
region of Ontario. In what became Canada’s
longest and costliest child welfare hearing,
District Court Judge Thomas Beckett heard
testimony about
ritual murder, cannibalism, gross sexual abuse
and Satanism involving [two girls’] mother,
father, and their mother’s boyfriend….
56F
57 The
girls themselves were too young to testify, so
their foster mother and other adults (such as
Children’s Aid workers) spoke on their behalf in
the courtroom.
57F
58 A police officer, however, who
had spent time with the girls testified that they
had told him “that their lurid and bizarre
allegations about murder and cannibalism were
‘all a big story.’”
58F
59
Believing that the girls were telling adults what
they thought the adults wanted to hear, the
officer mentioned in testimony that one of the
Children’s Aid Society social workers “offered
the girls an inducement in the form of a promise
of a future visit to Canada’s Wonderland [which
is an amusement park] and threatened them that
they would not go home until they found a
graveyard where babies were allegedly
buried.”
59F
60 The officer also reported that the
children had indicated that adults had used their
home’s backyard to temporarily bury bodies, but
police were unable to find evidence that the
ground had been dug up or disturbed.
60F
61 Despite
56 W. Joseph Wyatt, 2002, “What Was Under the McMartin
Preschool? A Review and Behavioral Analysis of the ‘Tunnels’
Find,” Behavior and Social Issues, 12, 29–39.
57 “Macabre Ritual Murder, Satanism Tales, ”1986 (November 27),
Lloydminster Daily Times.
58 Kevin Marron, 1986 (July 16), “Case Raises Spectre of a Violent
Cult,” Globe and Mail, A1.
59 Kevin Marron, 1986 (July 4), “Officer Says Children
Manipulated,” Globe and Mail, A14.
60 Marron, 1986 (July 14): A14.
61 Marron, 1986 (July 14): A14.
the officer’s reservations about the quality of the
evidence, the judge (in late March 1987) made
the two girls wards of the Crown and prohibited
their parents from ever seeing their daughters
again.
61F
62
Reporter Kevin Marron sat through the entire
case, and the year after it concluded he
published a book on the whole affair. He
concluded,
[i]n the absence of other credible explanations,
we cannot afford to dismiss the possibility that
these [children’s] allegations point to the
activities of groups engaged in satanic ritual, or
pornography, or both, and that there may be
some communications or connection between
such groups.
62F
63
In a related book that he published in 1989,
Marron continued to reflect upon the child
welfare case:
Having observed the Hamilton case first hand
and done further research on investigation of the
issue, I do not accept the theory that child care
workers have invented the concept of ritual
abuse or that the child victims have imagined or
fabricated their allegations—but I do not know
what it all means. Rather than accept the idea of
a network of cults, for which there is little
evidence, I am more inclined to believe that this
kind of abuse is perpetrated by disturbed
individuals who have been influenced by
Satanism or some other similar beliefs. I think it
also is possible that people are using the
trappings of Satanism either as a theme for
sadistic pornography or as a means of
frightening children into complying with sexual
abuse.
63F
64
Although he was not sure about what to make of
the children’s allegations and did know about
the alleged leading questions posed by at least
one Children’s Aid worker, Marron remained
62 Kevin Marron and Drew Fagan, 1987 (March 31), “Ritual-abuse
Girls Made Crown Wards,” Globe and Mail, A1.
63 Kevin Marron, 1988, Ritual Abuse: Canada’s Most Infamous
Trial on Child Abuse, p. 239 (Toronto, Canada: Seal Books).
64 Kevin Marron, 1989, Witches, Pagans, &Magic in the New Age,
p. 204 (Toronto, Canada: Seal Books).
