Social work victim sues

by Feòrag

A woman who was taken into care as a child during the Satanic panic is suing South Ayrshire Council for compensation for her lost childhood. She never claimed to have been sexually abused, and there was no medical evidence to suggest that she was, but social workers took her from her family in 1990 convinced she was the victim of a Satanic cult. She was kept in care for five years.

The woman, who was taken into care with seven other children, all of whom were members of the same extended family, said: I spent five years in homes and with foster families who didn't care for me.

My education suffered badly and I became withdrawn. I still lack self-esteem. I have no confidence in anything I do.

Despite a complete lack of evidence, social workers kept the children in care while they went on a crusade against the imaginary Satanists.

Social workers embarked on a sustained campaign to prove not only that the children had all been sexually abused, but that the abuse might have involved up to 90 adults and contained elements of satanic ritual.

It later emerged that descriptions of a party at which adults had been dressed up in 'sinister' costumes had been a fancy dress event for Hallowe'en.

The case is believed to be the first of its kind in Britain, and has taken so long to come to court because the Scottish Legal Aid Board had, until now, refused to fund the action. Woman sues for lost childhood—Scotland on Sunday, 11th May 2003. See also Familiar names resurface for a case where adults accused of Satanic abuse successfully sued a council which published a report suggesting that they really had committed the crime, even though the Criminal Court acquitted them.