While the heyday of SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse aka “Satanic Panic”) in North America and the UK is now past us, we continue to be haunted by it. A core of true-believers await vindication, many law enforcement officials and politicians involved remain unrepentant, occult “experts” still give talks to police and community leaders, and there are still people in jail, despite evidence that they are innocent. As for those who were sent to prison and then later released (some years later), many are just happy to be free again, content to sink into seclusion lest they draw attention. However, one man caught up in a famous Canadian SRA case decided that being free and having charges dropped wasn’t enough, and he sued the government prosecutor, the police, and the therapist who coached the children for malicious intent.  Now, nearly twenty years after the whole ordeal began, the last trial has finished, with the Canadian Supreme Court deciding that the Crown prosecutor in the case did not act maliciously, overturning a previous ruling against him.

“The Saskatchewan man at the centre of a malicious prosecution case says he respects the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada dismissing his lawsuit but still believes the Crown lawyer acted inappropriately. Richard Klassen led a lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution after he and others were accused of incredible acts of sexual abuse against children in the early 1990s. The children told police that they had been sexually abused and forced into satanic rituals including the mutilation and killing of animals, dismemberment of babies and drinking of human blood. None of the stories were true and the children later admitted they had lied.”

The overturning of the previous judgment against Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga is seen by some as a protective act by the Supreme Court, freeing many prosecutors of the worry that they could be liable if their “professional judgment” ends up convicting an innocent man or woman.

“Every precaution possible should be taken to prevent the prosecution of innocent people, but prosecutors must be allowed to exercise professional judgment without fear of personal liability when they are doing their jobs…”

Despite the government and courts circling their wagons to protect prosecutors with obviously poor “professional judgment”, this has ultimately been a victory for Richard Klassen and the other plaintiffs who sought to clear their names. They not only received high-profile vindication of their innocence on multiple occasions, but they did win their initial malice trial, and the Canadian government has paid out over two million dollars in settlement to Klassen and the others.

“Klassen said he was satisfied to have another set of judges re-affirm his innocence. “I didn’t lose anything here,” he said. “I’ve already won. They paid me, they gave me back my dignity.” In 2004, the Saskatchewan government negotiated a settlement with Klassen and the other plaintiffs to acknowledge the accused had suffered from the false accusations … He added that the long struggle to clear his name was worthwhile. “It was worth it for me,” he said. “I couldn’t live with this. I would have killed myself a long time ago.”"

In contrast, many of the American victims of Satanic panic are lucky to simply have their freedom, and some still don’t have that. Despite the court clearing the prosecutor of malice, the story reaffirms just how badly justice and law enforcement faltered during the moral panic that imprisoned so many. It is a reminder to those that would see this time come again, or create some new scape-goat, that not all of their potential victims will be content to hide away broken while allowing such madness to thrive. This court case involved cops, lawyers, and therapists, but we are all responsible in seeing that this sort of hysteria never rises again.

For those interested in finding out more about the Klassen SRA case Religious Tolerance has a nice time-line and overview.

Tags: Canada, law, litigation, Richard Klassen, ritual abuse, Satanic Panic