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The Press
Saturday, November 12, 1994.
Funding for Ritual Abuse Group raises anger
by Anna Dunbar
The "mythical beast" of satanic-ritual abuse is
being kept alive by false allegations and made credible by a gullible public
funding agency, says a spokesman for a Christchurch
group, Facade.
Winston Wealleans said members of his group, False Allegations of Child Abuse
Destroy Everyone, were angry that the Christchurch
regional lottery welfare sub-committee had funded a group that was founded on
a belief nurtured by fantasy.
The End Ritual Abuse society was formed in September by a woman who believed
her son was ritually abused at the Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre. This
week the society was granted $1300 by the Lottery Grants Board.
Mr Wealleans said the board was acting on behalf of New Zealand
society and "maybe by its action is excreting the population's darkest
fears and fantasies by feeding the many-headed beast that refuses to
die".
A spokeswoman for an Auckland
group, Casualties of Sexual Allegations, said the granting of public money to
ERA promoted the belief that there existed an international network of satanists
practising heinous crimes of ritual abuse.
Felicity Goodyear-Smith said allegations of satanic abuse typically described
bizarre rites involving tunnels and cages, sacrifice of animals and babies,
and eating of urine, blood, and faeces. Penetration with needles, knives,
swords, or crucifixes was often also alleged.
Dr Goodyear-Smith said corroborative evidence had never been discovered
despite extensive police investigations of thousands of such allegations in
the United States, Britain, and
other Western countries.
Satanic ritual abuse allegations arose from repeated interviewing of
suggestible children and "recovered memory therapy" techniques in
adults, she said.
"This is the same phenomenon which gives rise to stories of past lives
and alien abductions."
COSA offered support to families whose lives had been shattered by false
allegations. It did not deny genuine abuse did happen but felt promoting
untried or incorrect theories as facts was dangerous and led to abuse being
created where none existed.
Dr Goodyear-Smith said false abuse allegations stole resources from the
genuinely abused, created victims where there were none, and were devastating
for the falsely accused and their families.
The member of Parliament for Selwyn, David Carter, has also criticised the Christchurch agency for
granting funds to a group that publicised tales of ritual abuse and mock
burials.
It seems if you’ve got any nutty theory that paints you as a victim, the
Christchurch Lottery Grants Board will give you cash to swap stories of woe.
I’m not knocking the real victims of abuse, but money to swap rumours about
child sacrifices and burning pentagrams is a waste.
The committee thought it would increase awareness and understanding. It would
increase awareness of how easy it was to get money from the Lottery Board and
understanding about the group’s witch-hunt hysteria, he said.
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