Everyone should watch the brilliant film Forgotten Sins about how
the whole Satanic ritual abuse case was invented. Sad to say the more religious
minded you are the more susceptible you are to these suggestions.
This film makes one question the whole way in which religious leaders and politicians
bamboozle the public into doing what they want.
In this climate of paedo hysteria whereby any accusation of paedophilia is
accepted at face value by the papers and the public regardless of evidence or
fact.

You can read more about the actual case which inspired the movie here:

web.archive.org/web/20041130234035/members.aol.com/ingramorg/

I agree with you that most of the Paedo cases like this are witch-hunts : but I dont think Church people are necessarily anything to do with this in the UK. Maybe the USA - who knows.

The cover ups come from people in power.

I will check out your link and the film. Thanks for the post.

I suggest that if you want to read about deliverance ministry based on factual cases but wrapped up in great stories and rock music storylines - you check out the amazing PHIL RICKMAN Merrily Watkins series which starts with THE WINE OF ANGELS - get a cheap copy from Amazon and if you like it then further books get interesting.

I do believe in evil and that people who worship Satan ( and they do exist ) believe in it. Satanists are well known for blood sacrifices ( but the Old Testament had Jews doing it for God as well......) and the idea of young virgins is a common them down the ages allied to this. So you cant really say it is religious people spreading these ideas - they are deeply engrained in our culture.

The music industry itself promotes images of young teen girls and boys in their undies in sexualised ways - and in addition quite alot of videos have Satanic imagery and symbols in them. Now the question to ask is this - is this for real or just "theatre" and does it do any harm.

Sir Clif ( happy birthday ) sings the Larry Norman song " Why should the devil have all the good music" and that is a good question !!! I am sure many people will say Devil Music is great fun and worthy Christian music is dull and boring......and they also have a point ! Though the great writers like Bach and Handel were on God's side for years and turned out some quality work.

I would like to see the JUSTICE SYSTEM only taking on cases where there is hard evidence to support any allegations. Like a photo of the two people together in a state of sexual offence - or eye witnesses that are independent saying that they have witnessed these things and being sure of dates and places and so on - rather than the fantasy constructions that seem to be created out of Plod's imaginations and repeated across cases each time with no connection with true events.

The public are not stupid - juries generally can see through fabrication. Even some big cases with multiple charges and several allegers have collapsed this year - because it is clear to the public that allegations are not enough. The whole story has to be PROVABLE - and that is not going to happen in cases of false allegations. People used to end up in prison on someone's word - but now it seems the tide is turning and I would hope that the high standard of evidential proof to lock someone away is applied just as vigilantly by a jury in a paedo case as in murder trial. The sentences are often similar ! since New Labour increased all the sentences for paedosex offences to Life Imprisonment in 2003 ( crazy but true ) and introduced INDEFINATE sentences as well.

BR wrote:

I would like to see the JUSTICE SYSTEM only taking on cases where there is hard evidence to support any allegations. Like a photo of the two people together in a state of sexual offence - or eye witnesses that are independent saying that they have witnessed these things and being sure of dates and places and so on - rather than the fantasy constructions that seem to be created out of Plod's imaginations and repeated across cases each time with no connection with true events.

I wholeheartedly agree. Well said, BR. However, I don't share your optimism about the correct standards of proof returning. Many cases, up to and including murder, are simply stories told by the prosecution/police who do not trouble themselves to support the tale with evidence. That a jury just happens to reckon the prosecution version occurred is not adequate: it must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt by adequate evidence, otherwise people are being convicted on the balance of probabilities, which is legally incorrect.

I also think it should not be left so often to the whims of a jury to decide whether the legal standard of proof has been met. Much tighter criteria for CPS decisions on whether to proceed with cases should be put in place, and judges should be quick to dismiss cases which are speculative story-telling sessions, rather than coherent and properly investigated and presented prosecutions.

Well put SJB.

Totally agree.

I spent 30 minutes yesterday interviewing someone at CPS HQ about their systems. Really nice person.

They are well meaning people in the main.

BUT

The Police are so er....stupid - that cases take ages to process and often the evidence is lost or incomplete and even worse - FABRICATED. They change the story all the time and often change the charges.

No wonder so many cases stiff before they are even heard and many more get overturned on appeal.

At the moment the evidence is prepared a month after charge. Surely a way to save money would be to make sure the evidence was totally presented at time of charge. Then the Police would not keep leaving the CPS high and dry. The Police rightly say the CPS make it hard for them - BUT as taxpayers the legal system is constantly not giving any value for money.

Every case that fails in the Crown Court can cost between £50K to £ 1 million to the taxpayer depending on its complexity - length and whether it goes to appeal. Most cases are now returning on appeal because of shoddy work by the Police. Some cases like the M25 murder are on their SECOND appeal !!! That is how incompetentg they are.

What makes me angry though is the TOMLINSON case ( and the De Menezes ) because when it comes to POLICEMEN being tried for serious crime - different rules apply and it never even seems to get to a charge !! The Police find technicalities galore to stop themselves getting charged with blatant crimes.

The evidence in the Tomlinson case seems pretty cut and dried. Loads of eye witnesses - CCTV cameras from different angles - Photographs from independent tourists AND two Pathologists agreeing that the man was KILLED by a blow.

Of course it is probably Manslaughter - because I am sure he did not intend to kill the man - but surely it should have been put in front of a jury quickly.

If that had been you are me with that mountain of evidence then we would have been in jail by now......

Let's hope things improve. If everyone applies pressure on their MPs and keeps this up the agenda for the next few years then public opinion may well influence policy.

I would hope the media realises that the innocent public need to be protected. Jailing innocent people is a waste of public money and lets REAL criminals get away with things because Police resources will be stretched at time of cuts.

alive and well in Oz with a top casting director for films having set up a refuge for women to recover from their
'recovered abuse memories".

She "recovered ' her memories from 50 years ago in Manchester. Not sure it's something I would forget.

Maybe if I was offered enough cash I would "remember' everything !