Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1991, Page 82
Despite the limited ritual crime involvement evidenced by these responses, a number of those
answering the questionnaire suggested that the most effective aid for social service workers
would be information on evaluating and treating youth who were involved in dangerous occult
practices.
Interviews
The high response rate, as well as the detailed nature of the information provided, was
indicative of significant and useful data. To further clarify and verify these data, a number of
selected respondents were interviewed via telephone and in person. Geographic locations with
high population density and areas that reported significant activity were the primary targets
of such interviews. Typically they were one and the same. Though respondents who indicated
little or no ritual crime in their jurisdictions were also interviewed, relatively fewer of them
were chosen.
As might be expected, interviewees reiterated responses they had provided on surveys, but
the bases for these positions were not always comparable. The follow-up investigations
elicited information falling into two basic groups: well-defined current or recent cases and
testimonials of historic or on-going abuse.
Generally, law enforcement officers and school officials were able to offer accounts of specific
misconduct that they associated with ritualistic practices. Because of the nature of mental
health practitioners‟ work, their information on ritual crime was invariably secondhand and did
not involve investigation into specific allegations. Rather, accounts by clients constituted the
sole basis for their responses.
School officials typically referred serious offenses to law enforcement authorities. For less
serious offenses, parents or other custodial parties were notified. Verification of occult
influence generally was not made by school officials.
Law enforcement officers who actually completed the surveys and who were chosen for
interviews were those reputed as being experienced in the investigation of ritual crime. In
many cases these officers were in possession of indicia of belief systems that they felt linked
the crime to the belief system itself. They conceded that in few cases could they conclusively
prove such a connection. Though this evidence sometimes indicated a suspect‟s interest in an
unconventional belief system, more often than not it failed to substantiate a causal link
between those beliefs and commission of the offense in question. Further, because
perpetrators were not apprehended in most cases, investigators were unable to definitively
assign a motive to the crime. Often they relied upon factors merely suggesting existence of a
belief system.
The presence of certain graffiti at the crime scene, or of particular clothes, tattoos, or scars on
the suspect led law officers to label the offense as a ritual crime. The occurrence of the event
on a specific date (one of many listed on a “satanic calendar”) was also a popular basis for
assigning ritual crime status, even where no suspect was apprehended and other
corroborating evidence was unavailable.
Definitive documentation of ritual crime was rare. In no case was there conclusive evidence of
homicide in Virginia that could be causally linked to the influence of a spiritual belief system or
interest in the occult.
Crimes of vandalism, trespassing, and graffiti (those most frequently cited as possessing
occult overtones) had the clearest link to occult influence. Even where these crimes were
reported, follow-up investigations revealed that an occult influence was often suspected rather
than proved.

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1991, Page 83
Results of the follow-up interviews indicated that ritual crime in Virginia, to the degree that it
is found to exist, is limited primarily to individuals or very small groups (who might be
characterized as dabblers) and consists of trespassing, graffiti, and other vandalism.
Follow-up interviews exposed no evidence of any broad conspiracy of ritual crime. Local law
enforcement agencies throughout the Commonwealth and experts within the Virginia State
Police insisted that their investigations failed to uncover any organized network of crime that
could be attributed to the influences of a spiritual belief system.
Greater in-depth review of survey responses by members of the mental health field revealed
ritual crime claims falling into the second group. Follow-up interviews of these respondents
evidenced a substantively different body of information. Generally these claims involved
information derived from clients, were anecdotal in nature, and lacked detail concerning dates
and locations of alleged offenses. Additionally, they involved incidents that were years or
decades old. The nature of such claims makes verification exceedingly difficult, if not
impossible. It also suggests an aspect of this phenomenon that is fundamentally different
from the more specific allegations provided by law enforcement and social service agencies
and schools.
Testimony
On a number of occasions the task force received testimony involving allegations of ritual
crime. Academics, law enforcement officers, and alleged victims came before the task force in
public and private hearings (authorized by Section 9-134 of the Code of Virginia), the latter
being necessitated both by concern associated with the safety of certain witnesses and the
potentially sensitive nature of material relating to on-going criminal enterprises and
investigations.
Evidence received in such meetings mirrored the conflicting opinions and accounts
encountered throughout the study. Disclosures by therapists and self-described victims of
ritual crime included allegations of nationwide conspiracies (as described previously in this
report). Alleged offenses included kidnapping, murder, and physical and emotional abuse,
though witnesses were typically unable to provide specific details as to locations of events,
dates on which they occurred, or names of victims other than themselves.
Law enforcement officers (from the national, state, and local level) appearing before the task
force challenged these claims. While some of these witnesses suggested the possibility of
criminal activity between state lines, all rejected as untenable the existence of an organized
crime network as pervasive as that being asserted. Citing the lack of physical evidence,
missing persons, or other indications of the alleged crimes, these officers disputed the claims
of criminal activity and therefore failed to reach the more specific issue of whether such
alleged crime had occult influence as its origin.
Therapists who claimed experience in treating victims of ritual crime offered contrasting
positions on the veracity of a victim‟s testimony. While some expressed the conviction that
much of this testimony was accurate, others noted that victims of abuse, as well as those
suffering various emotional and psychological conditions, may assert such claims for
numerous reasons.
In its totality the testimony reaffirmed the need for separate discussion of concerns
experienced by law enforcement personnel and those encountered by professionals in the
field of mental health.
The Mental Health Perspective
Based upon the number of claims of ritual abuse emanating from therapists and their clients it
is evident that significant concerns exist in this arena. The cumulative research (including
interviews with and testimony of numerous licensed mental health practitioners) indicates