Martensville satanic sex scandal

The Martensville satanic sex scandal occurred in Martensville, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1992, where an allegation of child sex abuse escalated into claims of satanic ritual abuse.

In 1992, a mother in Martensville, Saskatchewan alleged that a local woman who ran a babysitting service and day care centre in her home had sexually abused her child. Police began an investigation and allegations began to snowball. More than a dozen persons, including five police officers from three different forces, ultimately faced over 100 charges connected with running a Satanic cult called The Brotherhood of The Ram, which allegedly practiced ritualized sexual abuse of numerous children at a "Devil Church".

The son of the day care owner was tried and found guilty of molestation, but not of sex abuse to the scale that had been accused. Then, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police task force took over the investigation. It concluded the original investigation was motivated by "emotional hysteria." Further, the interviews of the children were found to be mishandled: the questions were leading, and the children were praised for giving incriminating answers. In 2003, defendants sued for wrongful prosecution. In 2004, Ron and Linda Sterling received $924,000 (CAD).

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