Bullying by Childhood Peers Leaves a Trace That Can Change the Expression of a Gene Linked to Mood, Officials: 31 people fired in Army daycare scandal

Bullying by Childhood Peers Leaves a Trace That Can Change the Expression of a Gene Linked to Mood

Dec. 18, 2012 — A recent study by a researcher at the Centre for Studies on Human Stress (CSHS) at the Hôpital Louis-H. Lafontaine and professor at the Université de Montréal suggests that bullying by peers changes the structure surrounding a gene involved in regulating mood, making victims more vulnerable to mental health problems as they age.

The study published in the journal Psychological Medicine seeks to better understand the mechanisms that explain how difficult experiences disrupt our response to stressful situations. “Many people think that our genes are immutable; however this study suggests that environment, even the social environment, can affect their functioning. This is particularly the case for victimization experiences in childhood, which change not only our stress response but also the functioning of genes involved in mood regulation,” says Isabelle Ouellet-Morin, lead author of the study.

A previous study by Ouellet-Morin, conducted at the Institute of Psychiatry in London (UK), showed that bullied children secrete less cortisol — the stress hormone — but had more problems with social interaction and aggressive behaviour. The present study indicates that the reduction of cortisol, which occurs around the age of 12, is preceded two years earlier by a change in the structure surrounding a gene (SERT) that regulates serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation and depression….
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121218081615.htm

Increased serotonin transporter gene (SERT) DNA methylation is associated with bullying victimization and blunted cortisol response to stress in childhood: a longitudinal study of discordant monozygotic twins. Ouellet-Morin, C. C. Y. Wong, A. Danese, C. M. Pariante, A. S. Papadopoulos, J. Mill, L. Arseneault.  Psychological Medicine, 2012; DOI: 10.1017/S0033291712002784

Increased serotonin transporter gene (SERT) DNA methylation is associated with bullying victimization and blunted cortisol response to stress in childhood: a longitudinal study of discordant monozygotic twins

Background
Childhood adverse experiences are known to induce persistent changes in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to stress. However, the mechanisms by which these experiences shape the neuroendocrine response to stress remain unclear.

Method
We tested whether bullying victimization influenced serotonin transporter gene (SERT) DNA methylation using a discordant monozygotic (MZ) twin design. A subsample of 28 MZ twin pairs discordant for bullying victimization, with data on cortisol and DNA methylation, were identified in the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative 1994–1995 cohort of families with twins….

Conclusions
Our study extends findings drawn from animal models, supports the hypothesis that early-life stress modifies DNA methylation at a specific cytosine–phosphate–guanine (CpG) site in the SERT promoter and HPA functioning and suggests that these two systems may be functionally associated.
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8777435

Officials: 31 people fired in Army daycare scandal     
By LOLITA C. BALDOR | Associated Press  12/19/12

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least 31 people were fired from two Army day care centers at Fort Myer, Va., last week after officials scrutinized their backgrounds and found criminal convictions ranging from fourth-degree sexual assault and drug use to other assaults, a defense official said Wednesday….

According to officials, one person was charged with four counts of assault on children and the other was charged with five counts of assault. The alleged actions included hitting, grabbing or pushing the children. In the days after the arrests, the two administrators were dismissed, others were brought in and town hall meetings took place with parents.
http://news.yahoo.com/officials-31-people-fired-army-daycare-scandal-012217735–politics.html

Recent Child Abuse Crimes and Efforts to Unite Survivors – Neil Brick

Recent Child Abuse Crimes and Efforts to Unite Survivors – Neil Brick

http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2012-conference/recent-child-abuse-crimes-and-efforts-to-unite-survivors/

copied with permission

Transcript of speech given at the 2012 Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference in August 2012 in Connecticut.

During the last year there have been some major developments in the child abuse prevention field.  Several legal cases developed involving either cover ups or the networking of serial child abusers.

Probably the most famous case is the case of Jerry Sandusky and Penn State.

This case includes many media reports over the last few months. Sandusky faced 52 criminal counts for alleged abuse involving ten boys.

It was reported he wrote intimate letters to the victims. He had a charity, which tried to help children from disadvantaged families and broken homes. Sandusky kept a private list of boys the charity was helping. It is believed this list may have been a list of potential targets for him to abuse. Victims alleged that contact with Sandusky began with showering together and progress to abuse over time.

In June, Pennsylvania prosecutors considered bringing criminal charges against former top Penn State University officials for allegedly concealing what they knew about Sandusky’s  conduct.

Sources stated, that former university President Graham Spanier and others discussed whether they were obligated to tell authorities about a 2001 allegation involving a late-night encounter in a Penn State shower room between Sandusky and a young boy, both of whom were naked. They decided not to inform social services agencies. Later it was found that they decided this after meeting with Joe Paterno. It was alleged that Sandusky threatened  a victim that if he told, he would never see his family again.  Descriptions during the trial included ways Sandusky “groomed” his victims, including giving them tickets to football games. Three people in the late 1990s or early 2000s saw Sandusky in the showers with boys, one alleged he saw behavior that could be seen as sexual. There were also allegations of abuse in Sandusky’s basement. One victim hesitated talking to legal authorities, stating “Who would believe kids?”

During an interesting interview with NBC’s Bob Costas before the trial, Sandusky stated,
“And I didn’t go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I’ve helped. There are many that I didn’t have – I hardly had any contact with who I have helped in many, many ways.”

In late June, Sandusky’s adopted son stated he was molested also. Sandusky was found guilty on dozens of child sex abuse charges. There were convictions related to all 10 sexual abuse victims on 45 counts of sexual abuse. Two former Penn State officials face charges of perjury and failure to report suspected abuse in an alleged cover-up of the incident.

This case has important ramifications for the child abuse protection field.  It showed how institutions could cover up abuse for years. It shows how perpetrators find victims, groom them and threaten them so they don’t talk.  It shows how many people didn’t believe that he was abusing children, even verbally attacking those that stated he did.

I want to read a quote from an article in Boston Magazine.

In the Wake of Jerry Sandusky – To prevent child abuse, something has to change. So why won’t it? By Barry Nolan 6/25/2012

After the verdict came down in the Jerry Sandusky case, Linda Kelly, the Pennsylvania State Attorney General, stood before the assembled press and said something very important. She said: “One of the recurring themes of the witness’ testimony was … ‘Who would believe a kid?’”

Yes indeed, who would take the word of a mere child over that of a beloved coach like Jerry Sandusky about sexual abuse? Even though we know that such terrible crimes are far too common and the numbers are staggering, we can’t believe it. So, from 2005 to 2006 about 135,300 children were sexually abused.

Who would take the word of a child against a respected adult even though we know that in up to 93 percent of the time, the child knows his abuser and as many as 47 percent of the perpetrators are family members.

Who would take the word of a child even though in the vast majority of cases the only witness to child sex abuse  is the child?

The ugly truth about child sexual abuse is that we really don’t want to hear about it. And far too much of it happens after an initial complaint about a perpetrator has been made and it’s not investigated thoroughly.

Take the tragic sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, and just imagine how things could have been different if there had been real listening and forceful action early on. There were 10,667 complaints of sexual abuse against 4,392 priests and deacons between 1950 and 2002 and yet no serious or thorough investigation took place. And so the abuse was allowed to continue. Until the Globe’s Pulitzer Prize winning series compelled self-examination and change….

The first child to make a complaint in the Sandusky case came forward 14 years ago. But who was going to believe a kid over Jerry Sandusky? So the complaint was not thoroughly investigated and, tragically, the abuse continued….

Back in 1993, most people simply didn’t want to believe the awful things a kid had to say about what Jackson did behind closed doors. After all, Michael Jackson was a lavishly talented and beloved public figure. But Dimond, and a few others, listened carefully and pursued leads and looked at the evidence. And the awful truth began to come out. The boy in that case would eventually accept a settlement from Jackson that was widely reported to be in the range of $20 million.

I asked her for her thoughts on the bigger picture, the Sandusky case, the scandal in the church, and the Jackson matter. Here is part of what she sent me in an e-mail:

“Pedophiles are really the very person you think they could never be. They are the most charming, personable, charitable, and kid-friendly people you would ever want to meet. They pay their taxes, they go to church, they cloak themselves in acts of charity and they say they just want to help you raise your child by being a positive influence in their lives … Too often detectives believe the perpetrator’s version of events and they are freed to violate again.”

http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/2012/06/25/jerry-sandusky-abuse/

Louis J. Freeh, the former federal judge and director of the F.B.I. spent seven months invesitgating the Sandusky scandal at Penn State. (from Abuse Inquiry Faults Paterno and Others at Penn State By KEN BELSON July 12, 2012 NYT)

His report stated:
The most senior officials at Penn State had shown a “total and consistent disregard” for the welfare of children, had worked together to actively conceal Mr. Sandusky’s assaults, and had done so for one central reason: fear of bad publicity. That publicity, Mr. Freeh said Thursday, would have hurt the nationally ranked football program, Mr. Paterno’s reputation as a coach of high principles, the Penn State “brand” and the university’s ability to raise money as one of the most respected public institutions in the country….

In 2000, a janitor at the football building saw Mr. Sandusky assaulting a boy in the showers. Horrified, he consulted with his colleagues, but decided not to do anything. They were all, Mr. Freeh said, afraid to “take on the football program.” “They said the university would circle around it,” Mr. Freeh said of the employees. “It was like going against the president of the United States. If that’s the culture on the bottom, then God help the culture at the top.”

….One new and central finding of the Freeh investigation is that Mr. Paterno, who died in January, knew as far back as 1998 that there were concerns Mr. Sandusky might be behaving inappropriately with children. It was then that the campus police investigated a claim by a mother that her son had been molested by Mr. Sandusky in a shower at Penn State. Mr. Paterno, through his family, had insisted after Mr. Sandusky’s arrest that he never knew anything about the 1998 case. In fact, he had testified under oath before the grand jury hearing evidence against Mr. Sandusky that he was not aware of the 1998 investigation.

But Mr. Freeh’s report asserts that Mr. Paterno not only knew of the investigation, but followed it closely. Local prosecutors ultimately decided not to charge Mr. Sandusky, and Mr. Paterno did nothing. Mr. Paterno failed to take any action, the investigation found, “even though Sandusky had been a key member of his coaching staff for almost 30 years and had an office just steps away from Mr. Paterno’s.” “In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity,” the most powerful leaders of Penn State, Mr. Freeh’s group said, “repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the board of trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large.”….

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/sports/ncaafootball/13pennstate.html

Freeh Report on The Pennsylvania State University
The independent report by Louis Freeh and his law firm, Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan, LLP, into the facts and circumstances of the actions of The Pennsylvania State University surrounding the child abuse committed by a former employee, Gerald A. Sandusky

http://thefreehreportonpsu.com/

In mid July it was found that Penn State did not fully cooperate in the Sandusky prob, according to the state’s governor.  Coach Joe Paterno (the long time coach and football icon at Penn Sate had his statue removed.

In July, the NCAA levied unprecedented sanctions against the program for its role in the sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, fining the school $60 million, imposing a four-year postseason ban on Penn State football, significantly reducing the number of scholarship players the team can field over the next four years and placing the program on probation for five years. All of Penn State’s football program wins from 1998 to 2011 were vacated.

Another large international child-porn network was uncovered this year.

….Authorities have identified more than 140 young victims so far and say there is no end in sight as they pore through hundreds of thousands of images found on the suspects’ computers. They are also trying to determine whether the men who talked about murder and cannibalism actually committed such acts or were just sharing twisted fantasies….
Robert Mikelsons, a 27-year-old day care worker who baby-sat the boy, was arrested. On his computer were thousands and thousands of images of children being molested and raped….

Photos and online chats found on computers owned by Diduca and Mikelsons led to more than three dozen other suspects in seven countries, including Canada, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Mexico. The oldest victim in the Netherlands was 4, the youngest just 19 days old….
Mikelsons also received an 18-year sentence, followed by indefinite psychiatric commitment, after confessing to sexually abusing more than 80 children….

Vast international child-porn network uncovered  By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer Aug 4, 2012 BOSTON (AP)

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHILD_PORN_NETWORK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-04-10-44-22

Another large case was Operation Ore – the UK wing of a huge FBI operation.
(50 police officers arrested in child porn raids Wednesday, Aug 01 2012)
Operation Ore is the UK wing of a huge FBI operation which traced 250,000 paedophiles worldwide last year through credit card details used to pay for downloading child porn. The names of British suspects were passed on by US investigators. Suspects were traced through the Landslide web site – a gateway to an international collection of child pornography sites. Thomas Reedy, who ran the web site and earned millions from it, is now serving several life sentences in the US. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-151784/50-police-officers-arrested-child-porn-raids.html

The Boy Scout case is also a large case revealing repeat child abuse allegations.

Boy Scout files reveal repeat child abuse by sexual predators
Los Angeles Times review of Boy Scout documents shows that a blacklist meant to protect boys from sexual predators too often failed in its mission.
By Jason Felch and Kim Christensen, Los Angeles Times August 5, 2012

For nearly a century, the Boy Scouts of America has relied on a confidential blacklist known as the “perversion files” as a crucial line of defense against sexual predators….
Scouting officials say they’ve used the files to prevent hundreds of men who had been expelled for alleged sexual abuse from returning to the ranks. They’ve fought hard in court to keep the records from public view, saying confidentiality was needed to protect victims, witnesses and anyone falsely accused….

A Los Angeles Times review of more than 1,200 files dating from 1970 to 1991 found more than 125 cases across the country in which men allegedly continued to molest Scouts after the organization was first presented with detailed allegations of abusive behavior….

In at least 50 cases, the Boy Scouts expelled suspected abusers, only to discover later that they had reentered the program and were accused of molesting again.

One scoutmaster was expelled in 1970 for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Indiana. Even after being convicted of the crime, he went on to join two troops in Illinois between 1971 and 1988. He later admitted to molesting more than 100 boys, was convicted of the sexual assault of a Scout in 1989 and was sentenced to 100 years in prison, according to his file and court records.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-boyscouts-20120805-m,0,5822319.story

A landmark Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial occurred this year.

Allegations were made Msgr. William J. Lynn moved accused priests around to different parishes, enabling them to prey upon other children.

“Prosecutors say Lynn, 61, covered up child sex abuse allegations, often by transferring priests to unsuspecting parishes.  Lynn’s motive was to avoid scandal and any potential loss of money for the church, they argued. His job was to supervise 800 priests, which included investigating sex abuse claims, from 1992 to 2004. The defense said Lynn tried to handle documented cases of pedophile priests, making a list in 1994 of 35 accused predators and writing memos to suggest treatment and suspensions.”
Jury breaks without verdict in Philadelphia church abuse case June 7, 2012 PHILADELPHIA (Reuters)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-crime-churchbre8561g8-20120607,0,7146796.story

Philadelphia Priest Trial: Jury Reaches Split Verdict In Case Of Monsignor William Lynn By MARYCLAIRE DALE 06/22/12 PHILADELPHIA

“A Roman Catholic church official was convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy Friday in a landmark clergy-abuse trial, making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up abuse claims. Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said. Lynn, 61, served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua….He was convicted of only a single endangerment count, which carries a possible 3 1/2- to seven-year prison term. The jury could not reach a verdict for Lynn’s co-defendant, the Rev. James Brennan, who was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in 1999….
The jury, however, did find that Lynn endangered the victim of defrocked priest Edward Avery, who pleaded guilty before trial to a 1999 sexual assault.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/22/philadelphia-priest-trial_n_1619355.html

As many people know, the West Memphis Three were released from prison last year after spending 18 years there. One of them was on death row before he was released.

The three entered what are known as Alford pleas, which in essence is that they admit there is enough evidence to possibly convict them, but at the same time they don’t have to admit guilt. The court then pronounced them guilty. This event revived interested in the West Memphis Three case. Many believe that the murders of the three eight year old boys were occult crimes. These murders occurred on a full moon and court testimony stated that the three murders belonged to a teenage cult.  A great deal of information has been written about the case from the perspectives of those that believe they were innocent and those that believe they were guilty.

The movies that have been or are being produced about the case are from the perspective of those that think they are innocent.

Most of the easily accessible information on the case on the Internet is from the perspective of those that think they are innocent.  I will list some resources for the perspective of those that think they are guilty below.

One good webpage for information on this case is http://wm3truth.com

Our webpage with information on the day care cases from the perspectives of the alleged victims has an article titled “West Memphis 3 confession, witness corroboration and physical evidence” http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/

Another good page with information is http://callahan.8k.com
This is the most extensive web page on the case on the Internet, with information from both sides of the case, including many documents.

Dale Griffis, the longtime cult researcher, also has information on his perspective of the case, at:

Dale Griffis – West Memphis Three Case Information http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/dale-griffis-west-memphis-three-case-information/

Todd Moore wrote the below article in response to an editorial published in the Jonesboro Sun by Chris Wessel. He is the father of one of the West Memphis Three  murder victims.  Father of WM3 murder victim certain who killed 3 boys By Todd Moore
Guest Columnist  Opinion Section of the Jonesboro Sun on Tuesday, June 12, 2012

http://www.terryhobbs.com/2012/06/todd-moore-sets-record-straight.html

These many cases show the repeated cover ups of child abuse crimes and how child abuse exists worldwide.  The cover ups of these crimes are similar to the techniques used to cover up ritual abuse crimes today.

As survivors, we should educate ourselves about these cases and learn from them.  For many years, clergy abuse crimes were covered up. The Sandusky case was not investigated. Many of the techniques used against survivors in these cases are being used against ritual abuse survivors today. Abused children were not believed. Through hard work, some are now being believed.

Often times, what is missing from our side of the story is the research, which can help unify the survivor movement. This research strengthens our stories, and shows patterns across all areas of child abuse. Some of those on the other side want to divide us up.  Don’t let them. Make sure everyone hears our story and the stories of other abused survivors.  Continue to speak out.

The most important thing is to help others.  By speaking out, we do this.

Remember “Your silence will not protect you.”  Please continue to speak out. Thank you.

Dale Griffis – West Memphis Three Case Information and Documents, Photo e-mailed from Mass. man led to vast global child pornography network

Photo e-mailed from Mass. man led to vast global child pornography network
By Jenifer B. McKim  Globe Staff     July 29, 2012

As soon as they saw the terrified boy’s photo three years ago, federal agents Peter Manning and Gregory Squire had the same thought: we have to save him. The blue-eyed child, about 18 months old, was naked from the waist down and clutching a stuffed rabbit for comfort. There was no doubt he had been sexually abused. But that doesn’t begin to describe his suffering…..

Assigned to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations office in Boston, their job is to track down child pornographers and victims. Over the years, they’ve become painfully familiar with some of the hundreds of thousands of child pornography pictures and videos online. Many depict almost unimaginably grotesque attacks on infants and toddlers and are traded like baseball cards by men using obscure Internet outposts to revel in their depravity.

But that single image of the distraught boy with the toy bunny became a crucial piece of evidence for Manning and Squire. It had been e-mailed to them by a Milford man who thought he was sharing it with fellow child-pornography voyeurs. His miscalculation sparked an investigation that would spread around the world, thus far leading to 42 arrests and the discovery of 140 children who were violated. The youngest was 19 days old.

Robert Diduca, who sent the first photo — which he labeled “cookie” in a reference to the boy — eventually pleaded guilty to the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography. In June, the 48-year-old father of three was sentenced in US District Court in Worcester to 18 years in prison….

After Diduca’s arrest in November 2010, Manning and Squire mined the trove of 27,000 images he’d stored on laptops, flash drives, and cellphones in his four-bedroom Colonial home and in the Sheraton hotel office in Framingham where he worked. The evidence linked him to other offenders and victims in several European countries, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Within a few weeks, the agents had helped to uncover a massive child abuse case in the Netherlands….

Hiding behind a normal life
Robert Diduca didn’t have a criminal record. He appeared to be a decent father and faithful husband to his wife of some 25 years, and he held a job as a hotel manager. But beneath the veneer of normalcy, court records show, he sought, catalogued, and exchanged photos of sexually exploited children, fantasizing about rape and egging on predators to do more harm.

Diduca declined repeated requests for an interview….Diduca faced up to 60 years in prison but received a lesser sentence after he cooperated with prosecutors and pleaded guilty….

Like Diduca, many child-pornography viewers collect tens of thousands of images, some of which they share through e-mail chats or members-only online bulletin boards. Websites often feature sections catering to fetishes, including “super hardcore” and “homemade posts only.”….

A 2008 study by Michael Bourke, who is now chief psychologist for the US Marshals Service, found 85 percent of men arrested for possession of child pornography had also sexually exploited a child.

….Within hours, police descended on the Amsterdam home of 27-year-old Robert Mikelsons, a Latvian-born daycare provider. Mikelsons had baby-sat the boy several times — in his house and at a respected child care center favored by professional families.

By the time police arrived, Mikelsons — aware of the broadcast — had already deleted many images from his computer, prosecutors said. But there were far too many to wipe clean. He was arrested on the spot and confessed to molesting the boy. During the days of interrogation that followed, Mikelsons detailed attacks on 87 children, most under 2½ years old. He preferred to prey on those too young to talk….

Even though he confessed, Mikelsons still had to be convicted in court and sentenced by a three-judge panel. The formal charges were staggering. He stood accused of attacking 67 children — 52 boys and 15 girls — between 2007 and 2010. Many were ravaged multiple times.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/07/28/led-innocent-into-web-evil/Sk9VoLSnM9uQqZQAggmQJL/story.html

 

Dale Griffis – West Memphis Three Case Information

This information is being posted with the permission of its author, Dale Griffis:

This document is to provide accurate information about my professional background and educational credentials as these have been inaccurately referenced on the Internet and in at least one documentary film in relation to the Memphis Three Case.

From 1960 to 1986, I worked in the Tiffin Ohio Police Department, I began as a Patrolman and over the course of my 26-year career, became Captain in Charge of Operations and a State Certified School Commander.

During these years, I attended over forty service school and seminars. This included three courses on intelligence work, including a three-week course as a unit commander of an intelligence unit. I was chosen to attend the Federal Alcohol, tobacco and Firearms Academy in Washington D.C. and graduated with honors. I graduated from Terra Community College with an Associates Degree in Police Science. I graduated Cum Laude from Heidelberg College in 1976 with a Bachelors degree in psychology.

I began my graduate education at Columbia Pacific University (CPU) in 1980 and graduated in January of 1984 with a Ph.D. At the Masters level, I concentrated on an independent study project (ISP) on intelligence graphics and advanced investigation charting for small agencies. My Masters ISP took a year to finish and I graduated upon completion of my approximately 90-page thesis. CPU then granted me entry into their doctoral program.

Copies of Documents in regard to Columbia Pacific University
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/dale-griffis-west-memphis-three-case-information/dale-griffis-west-memphis-three-case-documents/

….Approximately a year prior to the murders of three children by convicted Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin, I was given data about a suspicious and criminal activity by some local youths in the West Memphis area. I provided to a West Memphis detective investigating these activities some indicators of possible problems and suggestions for thwarting the criminal activity. The detective’s concerns and my suggestions were not implemented by local authorities. The murders took place and I read about it in the media

….I have worked now with close to 2000 cases of cult and occult activity and am now retired, I still carry concern for the three eight-year-old boys who were savagely beaten and killed. I had told investigators and detectives more than a year before the arrest of the Memphis Three that children and animals would be sacrificed based on indicators sent to me of activity in the West Memphis area. I was sadly correct in my opinion. It is true still that when a person sees or hears something so bizarre as a ritually abusive sacrificial cult or occult group that it is easier to go after the messenger than to listen to the message.
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/dale-griffis-west-memphis-three-case-information/

200 New Photos Found in Miramonte Child Sex Probe

200 New Photos Found in Miramonte Child Sex Probe
Alleged victim describes Miramonte abuse.
February 8, 2012

SOUTH LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KTLA) — Investigators have uncovered an additional 200 bondage-type photos of children allegedly taken by Miramonte School teacher Mark Berdt

The pictures were found inside a computer at the Redondo Beach CVS store where the original photos implicating Berdt were found, Sgt. Dan Scott told KTLA.

Scott says the photos show about 25 victims that haven’t been identified yet.

The new pictures bring the total number of photos to roughly 600.

Berndt, who worked at Miramonte Elementary for more than 30 years, has been charged with 23 felony counts of lewd acts on a child.

A student who says she was sexually abused by Berndt says a female teacher at the school ushered her into Berndt’s classroom, where the alleged abuse took place.

In an exclusive interview with KTLA, the 10-year-old girl said Berndt — who was not her teacher — would contact her female teacher and ask for the her to be sent to his classroom to “get cookies during class.”

“Mr. Berndt, he called my teacher and (asked) if he could borrow some students,” the girl said in the interview….

Attorney Brian Claypool, who represents five of Berndt’s alleged victims, including the 10-year-old girl, said he has forwarded the female teacher’s name and address to law enforcement officials.

Scott told KTLA that investigators have interviewed the female teacher and that, “we are satisfied with her answers she’s provided us. She is definitely not a suspect. I can’t predict what will happen in the future….

A second Miramonte teacher, Martin Springer, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three counts of lewd acts on a child.

However according to authorities one of the girls dropped her case on Wednesday.

They said they are not pursuing that case because she and her family did not want to get involved in the investigation….

Additionally, two women, who are now adults, said school officials investigated rumors about Berndt back in 1990.

One of the women was called before a school counselor with two other girls, but the counselor chalked it up to the girls’ vivid imaginations and the subject was dropped.

In another instance, a woman who discovered love-letters written by a Miramonte teacher’s aide to her 11-year-old son was not taken seriously.

The Los Angeles Times reports that in June 2009, the mother of a fourth-grade boy discovered love letters from the aide, identified as Areceli Luisjuan….

In 2005, Richard Guevara, a former teacher’s aide at Miramonte Early Education Center, was convicted in 2005 of committing lewd acts with children.

He had been investigated for improper behavior as far back as 1995, but it was a case from 2003 that led to his conviction.

In that case, Guevara received a sentenced of 15 years to life in prison.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-miramonte-second-teacher-removed,0,7913135.story

Day care teacher gets 35 years for sexual assaults on 12 boys

Ex-teacher gets decades in prison for child molestations
Monday, January 30, 2012 By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A former teacher at Tender Care Learning Center in Scott pleaded guilty to 13 cases involving child molestation and child pornography this morning in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

Matthew K. Byars, 26, was sentenced to 35 to 70 years in prison for his actions abusing 12 boys, ranging in age from 6 to 17 years old. He also must register for life as a sex offender.

The families of the boys agreed to the plea deal in part to end the case quickly and avoid having them testify.

“We made an offer that will not victimize these boys any further,” said Deputy District Attorney Laura Ditka….

According to Ms. Ditka, Mr. Byars molested seven boys he taught at Tender Care, met the cousin of a boy there who he also abused, and molested two other boys.

He befriended the boys at the daycare, as well as their families, and often took them on outings, organized pickup hockey games, brought them to his church and invited them to sleepovers at his home.

In some instances, the boys were fondled and photographed or recorded on video. In others, they were forced into sex acts or sexually assaulted, Ms. Ditka said….

Speaking briefly, Mr. Byars apologized.

“I do realize the affect of my actions on so many people,” he said. “I truly am sorry.”
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/12030/1207008-100.stm

Day care teacher gets 35 years for sexual assaults on 12 boys
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Scrawled across the page in all capital letters, written in the hand of a child, the statement read, “I HATE MATT.”

Another boy, in blue ink, wrote to the judge, “I feel sad and lonely. But once I see the other kids, I’m not so lonely because I know I’m not the only one.

“But what’s the worst is that every morning I wake up, I think of that.”

They were two of 11 boys who sat in the jury box in Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel’s courtroom Monday and listened as the prosecution listed each one’s case, and the horrific things they had to endure at the hands of Matt Byars, a man they trusted.

In the middle of Deputy District Attorney Laura Ditka’s summary, one of those boys, who is now 9, shouted, “Find someone your own age, Matt,” and fled the courtroom….

Mr. Byars, hired at Tender Care in 2007, pleaded guilty Monday to sexually abusing 12 boys, ranging in age from 6 to 17 years old, over a period of several years….

According to Ms. Ditka, Mr. Byars, 26, of the West End, sexually abused seven boys he taught at Tender Care, as well as the cousin of a boy who attended the center. He also abused four others.

He befriended the boys at the day care, as well as their families, and often took them on outings, organized pickup hockey games, brought them to his church and invited them to sleepovers at his home.

While at Tender Care, Ms. Ditka said, Mr. Byars would sometimes call boys out of line when they were going outside and have them stay back with him. In some instances, he assaulted them there.

In other cases, he took the boys to his home where he showed them pornography and photographed and recorded them on video performing sex acts. He also set up a video camera in his shower and recorded the boys while they washed.

Mr. Byars told them to “flex” their muscles when he photographed them, the prosecutor said.

In one instance, Mr. Byars made a boy engage in oral sex to let him play video games.

Police became aware of Mr. Byars’ actions when the mother of one boy told her son “Mr. Matt” wanted to take him to the movies.

The woman explained the terror she saw in her son’s eyes that day, and how the boy reacted to what she had said.

“It all makes sense now,” she said. “How my son went from an open, caring, loving little boy to an angry, fearful and sad lost soul.”

Her son had been having head- and stomachaches daily. She took him to doctors, and he was diagnosed with having anxiety.

“I blamed myself,” she said.

As a single mother of two, she wondered if her son was jealous of his little brother, or was mad that she no longer read to him.

“My life will never be the same,” she said.

All of the family members who spoke talked about betrayal and the loss of innocence.

“He has taught them hate. He has taught them fear,” read one woman who is the grandmother of one victim and the great-aunt of another.

Another mother called Mr. Byars a “monster.” She told the court that her son has only recently been able to cuddle with his own father after having been abused.

“[He] is having trouble learning how to trust men again, including his dad,” she said.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12031/1207105-55-0.stm

online child abuse and ritual abuse conference transcripts

CD information on the 2011 ritual abuse conference information is at http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2011-conference/

Always Getting Stronger: Giving Survivors a Voice in the World
- Neil Brick.  He is a survivor of Masonic based Ritual Abuse and MK-ULTRA. He is the editor of S.M.A.R.T. – A Ritual Abuse Newsletter. His topic is:
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2011-conference/always-getting-stronger-giving-survivors-a-voice-in-the-world/

Alleged ritual abuse by Freemasons and The Order of the Eastern Star, otherwise known as Co-Freemasonry in Australia

Kristin Constance has a Diploma in Community Welfare and Professional Counselling. She works with people with disabilities some who have been abused severely. She is a survivor of alleged masonic and order of the eastern star ritual abuse within a multi-generational family. She has been healing for twenty years.  Her topic is: Alleged ritual abuse by freemasons and order of the eastern star (co-freemasonry) in Australia.
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2011-conference/alleged-ritual-abuse-by-freemasons-and-the-order-of-the-eastern-star-otherwise-known-as-co-freemasonry-in-australia/

The Official Story vs. Reality: Survivors as Whistleblowers
Carmen Yana Holiday is a survivor of  child pornography, human trafficking,  ritual abuse-torture and mind control. She has been an advocate for other survivors since 2001, developing and facilitating trauma recovery workshops and presenting as a survivor of RA-MC for several organizations. Her topic is: The Official Story vs. Reality: Survivors of Extreme Abuse as Whistleblowers.
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2011-conference/the-official-story-vs-reality-survivors-as-whistleblowers/

The Myth of Panic – Exposing Theories Used to Cover Up Ritual Abuse Crimes - Neil Brick
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2011-conference/the-myth-of-panic-exposing-theories-used-to-cover-up-ritual-abuse-crimes/

Deal Frees ‘West Memphis Three’ in Arkansas

Deal Frees ‘West Memphis Three’ in Arkansas By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON August 19, 2011

JONESBORO, Ark. — The end, if it can be called that, came all of a sudden. After nearly two decades in prison for the murder of three young boys, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., commonly known as the West Memphis Three, stood up in a courtroom here on Friday, proclaimed their innocence even as they pleaded guilty, and, minutes later, walked out as free men….

Under the terms of a deal reached with prosecutors, Mr. Echols, Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Misskelley leave as men who maintain their innocence yet who pleaded guilty to murder, as men whom the state still consider to be child killers but whom the state deemed safe enough to set free.

Last November, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that there was enough evidence to call a hearing to determine whether to have a new trial. The hearing was scheduled for this coming December.

But it was less than three weeks ago that lawyers representing Mr. Echols began working on a deal to offer to prosecutors that would free the men.

Under the seemingly contradictory deal, Judge David Laser vacated the previous convictions, including the capital murder convictions for Mr. Echols and Mr. Baldwin. After doing so, he ordered a new trial, something the prosecutors agreed to if the men would enter so-called Alford guilty pleas. These pleas allow people to maintain their innocence and admit frankly that they are pleading guilty because they consider it in their best interest.

The three men did just that, standing in court and quietly proclaiming their innocence but at the same time pleading guilty to charges of first- and second-degree murder. The judge then sentenced them to 18 years and 78 days, the amount of time they had served, and also levied a suspended sentence of 10 years.

The prosecuting attorney, Scott Ellington, said in an interview that the state still considered the men guilty and that, new DNA findings notwithstanding, he knew of no current suspects.

“We don’t think that there is anybody else,” Mr. Ellington said, declaring the case closed.

Asked how he could free murderers if he believed they were guilty, he acknowledged that the three men would likely be acquitted if a new trial were held, given the prominent lawyers now representing them, the fact that evidence has decayed or disappeared over time and the death or change of heart of several original witnesses. He also expressed concern that if the men were exonerated at trial, they could sue the state, possibly for millions of dollars.

“I believe that with all the circumstances that were facing the state in this case, this resolution is one that is palatable and I think that after a period of time it will be acceptable to the public as the right thing,” Mr. Ellington said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/us/20arkansas.html

‘West Memphis Three’ — Convicted Of Killing Boy Scouts — Free After Serving 17 Years In Prison by David Lohr 8/19/11

After serving 17 years behind bars for the brutal murder of three children in eastern Arkansas, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin — dubbed the “West Memphis Three” — have been released from prison.

“They will be free men … on suspended sentence,” prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington told reporters during a Friday press conference.

“Only time will tell as to whether this was the right decision.”

All three men had been imprisoned since 1994, when they were convicted of killing three 8-year-old boys: Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers.

Prosecutors alleged the trio killed the children in Robin Hood Hills on the morning of May 6, 1993, as part of a satanic ritual. According to police, the boys’ bodies were mutilated and left in a ditch. Each had been hogtied with his own shoelaces.

At the time of their arrests, Baldwin was 16. Misskelley was 17, and Echols was 18.

Echols was sentenced to death, Misskelley was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 40 years, and Baldwin was sentenced to life.

DNA testing was not available at the time of the defendants’ trials. In 2007, it was found that DNA collected at the crime scene did not match that belonging to any of the three men. In November 2010, the state Supreme Court ruled that all three could present new evidence in court.

A new court date had been set for December, but on Thursday Judge David Laser ordered all three men transported to Jonesboro for today’s surprise hearing. In a brief statement released to the press, Laser only said that the hearing was to “take up certain matters pertaining to the cases” of the three defendants.

Experts believe both sides have entered into a complex legal agreement, in which the three men have entered into so-called Alford pleas.

“The plea means that you maintain your innocence but you believe there is a substantial likelihood that a jury will find you guilty so you are pleading guilty per State v. Alford,” Anne Bremner, a Seattle attorney and legal analyst, told The Huffington Post. “The effect of the corresponding finding of guilt by the court is the same as with a straight guilty plea.”….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/19/west-memphis-three-free_n_931449.html

West Memphis 3 confession, witness corroboration and physical evidence
http://eassurvey.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/west-memphis-3-confession-witness-corroboration-and-physical-evidence/

CD recordings now available from the 14th Annual Ritual Abuse Conference

forwarded with permission

Internet conference CD information: http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/

The conference was very successful this year. S.M.A.R.T. wants to thank all those that attended and participated in the conference, including the speakers, cosponsors, volunteers and those in the survivor community that helped us promote the conference.

CDs are now available of the conference speakers. Please print out the form below to order them. Information on ordering is below.

These CDs are educational and not intended as therapy or treatment. Statements made on these CDs are the speaker’s own statements only and don’t necessarily represent the policies or views of conference sponsors, cosponsor, speakers, exhibitors or organizers.

1) Neil Brick – Always Getting Stronger: Giving Survivors a Voice in the World

2) Janet Thomas – Writing Out Loud—The Power of Story to Save Our Lives and Change the World

3) Kristin Constance- Alleged ritual abuse by freemasons and order of the eastern star (co-freemasonry) in Australia.

4) deJoly LaBrier – The Challenges of Recovering From Extreme Abuse

5) Maria – Why I never married.

6) David Shurter – Looking Forward as We Embrace the Past

7) Alexandra – What I have learned so far

8.  Mary Keats – Continuing Hope and Healing

9) Carmen Yana Holiday – The Official Story vs. Reality: Survivors of Extreme Abuse as Whistleblowers

10) Dave – Finding Meaning

11) Neil Brick – The Myth of Panic – Theories Used to Cover Ritual Abuse Crimes

CDs are approximately 60 minutes long. CDs are $12 each.

Shipping and Handling charges on CDs are $1.50 (US) for the first CD, .50 for each additional. Canada $2.00 first CD, .75 each additional, rest of world, $3.00 first CD, $1.00 each additional.

Special price until 9/15/2011- all 11 CDs only $115 US, Canada $125.
This includes shipping and handling.

Normal price shipping and handling: US Price -all CDs – $130, Canada price – all CDs – $135

Please mail form below and checks (US Banks only, please), money orders (US) to
SMART P. O Box 1295, Easthampton, MA 01027-1295 USA E-mail: SMARTNEWS@AOL.COM

Please list all CDs wanted by number. Thank you.

Name:______________________________________________________

Street: ______________________________________________________

City: ____________________________State:____________

Country: ____________________

Zip:__________

E-mail address : (in case we have questions)_________________________

Former Daycare Worker Gets 40 Years In Prison For Sexually Abusing Preschoolers

Benjamin Janicki, Former Daycare Worker, Gets 40 Years In Prison For Sexually Abusing Preschool Kids

7/22/11 Benjamin Janicki, 20, a former Denver church daycare worker, has been convicted of sexually molesting nine preschool children and sentenced to 40 years in prison, the maximum allowed under a plea agreement, according to The Denver Post.

The plea agreement was arranged so the nine young girls would not have to testify about the horrifying abuse they faced at the hands of Janicki, who was a summer hire aide for pre-Kindergarten aged kids at the daycare center, according to 9News….

Janicki plead guilty to to two counts of first degree assault and two counts of attempted sexual assault on a child, according to CBSDenver.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/22/benjamin-janicki-former-d_n_907343.html

Plea Deal Announced In Church Day Care Molestation Case
May 9, 2011 Benjamin Janicki entered a guilty plea in court Monday morning to two counts of first degree assault and two counts of attempted sexual assault on a child. He was charged after being accused of molesting four preschool-aged children at the Park Hill United Methodist Church.

Janicki worked as an aid at Park Hill United last summer when he was 19.

Originally the charges Janicki faced stemmed from four victims. On Monday during court proceedings it was revealed that five more victims were added to the list.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/05/09/plea-deal-announced-in-church-day-care-molestation-case/

Casey Anthony family “dysfunctionality,” West Point Day Care Ritual Abuse Case

also:  Video of the documented CIA mind control history 1979

Jesse Grund, Casey Anthony’s Ex-Fiance, Calls Family A ‘Carnival Of Dysfunctionality.’

Casey Anthony’s ex-fiance Jesse Grund calls the Anthony family a “carnival of dysfunctionality.”  In an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer, Grund says he witnessed the dynamics between Casey, her parents, and her brother, and says that “there is no way Casey goes back home.”

“There is no way they have any semblance of a normal family life,” he says.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/06/jesse-grund-casey-anthony_n_891351.html

Video of the documented CIA mind control history 1979 http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/government-corruption/control-freaks-sadists-and-thugs.html

permission to publish the article in full

West Point Day Care Sexual Abuse Case with Ritual Abuse allegations

Cunningham, Douglas and Alan Snel “A Legacy of Pain: Settlement Doesn’t Ease Abused Children’s Fears,” The Times Herald Record (Middletown, New York), June 11, 1991.

The Times Herald-Record
Copyright (c) 1991, The Times Herald-Record
9106110008
Long  :  227 lines
Tuesday, June 11, 1991
Final North  News  4
By DOUGLAS CUNNINGHAM and ALAN SNEL Staff Writers

The Record photos: A new sign indicates a building number  change.  The red brick West Point Child Development Center was at the center  of controversy in 1984. Mug photos: Judge W. Knapp  William E. Crain  Dr. Walter R. Grote

Record photo by Jeff Goulding: New center Director Nancy Campbell-Capen,  above, talks about improvements to the building, including viewing windows in  doors.

The Record photo: The West Point Child Development Center as it was in the  mid-1980s, when the child abuse charges first surfaced. Back then, the  building number was 666, leading to speculation that the abuse was satanically motivated.

A LEGACY OF PAIN  SETTLEMENT DOESN’T EASE ABUSED CHILDREN’S FEARS
WEST POINT
Seven years have passed since she was sexually abused at West Point’s child-care center. Yet today, the 10-year-old girl can’t go to the bathroom  without her mother waiting by the door.

The girl – who was 3 when West Point child-care workers were accused of  sexually abusing her and 10 other children in 1984 – also asks her mother  about whether she will be able to bear children when she grows up.
“This happened seven years ago, and it’s not any better,” the girl’s  mother said. “She’s constantly asking, `What if we’re out in the store,  Mommy, and we see these people? Are they going to hurt me?’ . . . But this is  constantly on her mind because she knows these people are not in jail for what they did.”

In the U.S. District Court files in Manhattan, the West Point sexual abuse  case is resolved. The government failed in 1985 to indict any suspects in its  criminal investigation. But last month, it settled a civil suit brought by the parents of the 11 victims. Nine of the victims will receive $2.7 million, with awards ranging from $25,000 to $625,000.

But even as the legal dust has settled, the case lingers as a legacy of  pain for the families.
“These people stole our children,” the mother said. “(She’s) nothing  like she used to be. She’s a very angry little girl. She doesn’t trust anyone. She’s nothing like she was before this happened.

“It’s never going to be over for them, or for us.”
The case began in 1984, when allegations surfaced of sexual and physical  abuse of children at the West Point Child Development Center.
The incidents unfolded against a backdrop of satanic acts, animal  sacrifices and cult-like behavior among the abusers, whose activities extended beyond the U.S. Military Academy borders to Orange County and a military base  in San Francisco, parents charged.

The specter of satanism would later spur U.S. Military Academy officials to change the West Point child-care center’s building number from 666 to 673.

Despite 950 interviews by 60 FBI agents assigned to the investigation, an  investigation led by former U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani produced no federal grand jury indictments. The investigation did find “significant indications  that children may have been abused” at the center.

Until now, no official reports or investigations have verified the sexual  abuse. The Times Herald-Record, however, has learned that a still-secret,  independent report – prepared by one of the nation’s top experts on child  sexual abuse – confirms the children’s accusations of abuse. The report also  played a vital role in ending the seven-year legal ordeal and in enabling the  case to be settled without the children undergoing potentially hostile  questioning on the witness stand, said U.S. District Judge Whitman Knapp, who  heard the civil case.

The expert, Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess, a professor of psychiatric nursing at  the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia and the author of the book,  “Child Pornography and Sex Rings,” entered the case in 1989.

She interviewed all the children. She said yesterday that her goal in the  case had been to reduce harm to the children because testimony in open court  could have triggered symptoms of abuse, prompted by a “resurfacing” of the  original incident.

Knapp said that because Burgess worked for neither the government nor the  plaintiffs, but reported directly to the court, her findings carried  additional credibility. Neither Burgess nor others would speak about her  specific findings.

“You can draw your own conclusions from the fact that (the government)  paid all this money,” Knapp said about Burgess’ report. “The government  wouldn’t have likely paid that money unless the report gave them a basis for  doing that.”

The families’ lawyer, William E. Crain, who now practices in Elkin, N.C.,  and formerly worked in Newburgh, said the report is independent confirmation  of the children’s claims. He received nearly $300,000 in legal fees in the  case. The amount, 25 percent of the settlement, is set by law.

“Just generally speaking, it corroborated the children’s allegations they  had been sexually abused by day-care center staff,” Crain said of the  report.

“That report was sealed and has never been seen by anybody else and I hope it never will be,” Knapp said. “That has all the intimate details of what  happened to these children. Certainly, they don’t want to be plagued by that  when they grow up.”

The government, however, admitted none of the allegations in making the  settlement. Edward T. Ferguson III, the assistant U.S. attorney in charge of  the case, declined to comment on Burgess’ role. He said that the settlement  was in the best interests of the children and did not require them to testify  in court.
“Everyone involved – the parents, the government and the court – all  wished to avoid (the children taking the witness stand), if an accommodation  could be reached,” Ferguson said.

Among other things, several of the settlements – made individually with  each child’s family – provide for medical costs, counseling and a college  fund. The actual cost of the settlement is $1.175 million. Much of the money  will be invested and paid out during the victims’ lives, thereby increasing  the total to $2.7 million.
“They’re children. They’re going to have to live with what happened to  them. So are their parents,” Crain said. “But in terms of legal work, the  legal end of it is finished.”

Nancy Campbell-Capen’s job began just four months ago. West Point hired the New Jersey native to run its child-care program, including the center, a  red-brick building tucked on a hill between playing fields and a playground.
Ms. Campbell-Capen recalled talking about the sexual abuse case with her  boss and other center staffers.
“More people were reacting to the media coverage than the actual possible  event,” Ms. Campbell-Capen said she was told.

The center serves 150 children – 80 percent from military families and 20  percent from civilian workers. There are 120 children on a waiting list for  the center that now complies with federal guidelines, which were strengthened  in 1989.
“They certainly tightened the old regulations,” said Ms. Campbell-Capen,  who ran child-care centers at Army bases in Germany. “We discovered the need  to tighten up with staff training.”

Only a handful of the center’s 86 workers remain from the 1984 staff. Ms.  Campbell-Capen said the staff had no response to the lawsuit settlement.
The center is trying to receive accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

The center’s dedication to meeting child-care standards contrasts with the  way victims’ parents were treated when they sought to alert West Point and the military that their children had been sexually violated.
The Army’s reaction to the parents’ plight so enraged former Army Dr.  Walter R. Grote that the ex-captain refused a promotion to major in 1985  because of the treatment of his child’s sexual abuse case at West Point. He  was one of the first parents to file the lawsuit, but later dropped out of  seeking money from the case.

“Unfortunately, money can’t . . . undo the trauma incurred by scores of  children at West Point . . . because people with responsibility didn’t  exercise that responsibility,” said Grote, now in private practice in New  Jersey. “What the hell is a settlement? . . . They could have caught these  people doing it at the time that they were doing it.
“We have a tendency to think that everything that’s evil and bad is on the other side of the Pacific or the Atlantic.
“And that’s not the case.”

The mother of the 10-year-old said the settlement will pay her daughter’s  college bills. But the mother said she would have preferred the government  kept its money and punished the abusers.
Without the prosecution, West Point has retained its polished national  image, she said. Even last month, the government admitted none of the  allegations in making the settlement, a reminder of what parents say was West  Point’s callous denial.

“They wouldn’t acknowledge what happened,” the mother said. “I’m sure if it was done anywhere else but West Point, it would have been acknowledged.”

Another parent whose son was sexually abused recalled that the Army was not prepared to treat satanic abuse.
“You had a bunch of kids who had some kind of abuse and the concerns of  the parents seeking assistance fell on deaf ears. The medical treatment for  the satanic abuse was not meeting the bill. It was far beyond what (the Army)  could handle,” said Maj. Bob Caslen, an infantry officer reached stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Two teacher aides were suspended and later quit after the charges  surfaced.

After a federal grand jury failed to return indictments, community members  joined the parents in calling for another investigation in 1985.
Joan Benedict walked with parents at a protest in Highland Falls in hopes  of inspiring another probe. And she was a member of an Orange County  anti-pornography group that sponsored a forum to allow the victims’ parents to speak out in 1986.

Ms. Benedict said she used to pray and walk at West Point because of the  189-year-old institution’s majestic Hudson River views. But no more.
“When I saw the headlines of the child pornography ring at West Point, it  cut me to the heart,” Ms. Benedict said. “I know West Point is only surface  beauty. They were outright cruel to the parents.”
Ms. Benedict, a Town of Cornwall resident, started her own crusade to spark the Justice Department to reopen the abuse case. She ended her efforts in 1988 when she was convinced of a federal cover-up after receiving a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mary C. Spearing, a special attorney with the Justice Department’s National Obscenity Enforcement Unit, wrote that the case was closed.
“Unfortunately, no new evidence, revelation or hint of wrongdoing or  negligence surfaced during our review,” she wrote. She noted in her letter  that the assistant U.S. attorney on the case was a father of four and that she had two children herself.

The monetary settlement, however, did not resolve the parents’ bitterness  over what they still maintain was a botched FBI investigation. In fact, court  papers filed by parents showed federal investigators not only refused to  believe the children, but, in some cases, also criticized some parents for not keeping their children under control in their homes.

“When the agents came to the house, they did not appear to have a tape  recorder and they were not taking notes during the interview,” one parent  said in a sworn statement, according to 1984 court papers. “He became annoyed and frustrated and said, `It looks like she’s just trying to get attention.’  ”

Recalled Grote: “The tragedy is the abusers could have been caught . . .  with a little imagination and a lot less chauvinistic narcissism on the part  of West Point and the initial FBI investigator.”

Prosecutor Giuliani did not return calls last week. In 1987, Giuliani said  his detailed investigation showed only one or two children were abused. The  federal investigation cleared the center staff members accused by the  children.

The mother of the 10-year-old girl still tries to cope with the abuse’s  aftermath.
“As far as I’m concerned, the government gave them a license to go out and abuse other children,” the mother said. “I have to explain to my daughter  these people are still out there.
“And she still has nightmares. She’s afraid they’re going to come through  the window at night to get her.”

Center changes
Despite sexual abuse charges that surfaced in 1984 and a $1 million  renovation of the building, the West Point day-care center was hit with 79  violations in January 1988. Here are some of the violations found by the  14-member Pentagon task force and how they have been resolved:
- Doors lacked windows. According to inspectors, this “increases the  potential for child abuse.” All center doors now have windows.

- No background checks. The names of the 22 child-care providers were not  submitted to the Army Central Registry to determine whether they had prior  criminal records. All employees now have background checks done.

- Unprotected electrical outlets. All outlets now have protective caps.

- Toilets not immediately adjacent to activity areas.  Restrooms have been  renovated and child-size toilets have been installed.

- Some workers, from the center’s acting director to receptionists, did not receive proper training. Training has begun.

An Army Child Care Evaluation team spent a week in August scrutinizing the  center and did not list any infractions, said Ray Aalbue, a West Point  spokesman.