Satanic Panic - 149 - a podcast by Wondery

Satanic Panic. August 12, 1983. Judy Johnson calls the Manhattan Beach police to report that the 25 year-old son of the owner of the McMartin preschool had molested her two and a half year-old son. In October of that year, Children's Institute International began interviewing potential victims of ritual, sexual abuse by employees of the school. By March, seven in all are charged with 115 counts of child sexual abuse. In the end, just two of them would face court and seven years and $15 million dollars later the entire prosecution of the members of the daycare center would end with a whimper. Who was Judy Johnson and why did she suspect her child had been molested? What did the children say happened at the school? What evidence did investigators uncover? Did the devil do it? Joel Osteen & Damien Echols are perceived as polar opposites, but just how big of a part do our perceptions play in this? How big of a role was the media and why? 

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