Between 1971 and 1973 more than 400 kids were reported missing in the heights, an area 2 miles wide and 3 miles deep. ibid.
Police compiled the names of thirty juveniles from thirteen states who were allegedly procured as companions for older man known as sponsors. It was a nationwide child trafficking ring discovered one week after the Dean Corll mass murders in Houston made headlines. The Clown & the Candyman s1e3
Child pornography and prostitution operating across the country: it was organised, profitable and much of it was on film. ibid.
The longer they talk, the deeper Randy [White] digs into the victims and the details of the case, the stronger his suspicion grows that there’s more here than meets the eye. The Clown & the Candyman s1e4
In 2011 thousands of fans mourned the loss of Sir Jimmy Savile who was once celebrated … just months later exposed as one of the UK’s most prolific sex offenders. His memorial stone was removed; he now lies buried in an unmarked grave. Savile: Portrait of a Predator, ITV 2021
How did Savile persuade those who should have known better to give him their seal of approval … and even to make him the face of child protection. ibid.
Savile carefully controlled which girls were admitted to his dances and took advantage of them later. ibid.
The passage of time does not lessen the fact this was an incredibly dark period for the BBC. ibid. BBC statement
After 1971 Savile would go on to abuse at least ten victims in connection with his work at Top of the Pops. Six of those abused were children. ibid. caption, source the Dame Janet Smith Review Report 2016
Savile’s Travels: Savile took his mobile home on tour. ibid.
Savile even had his own bedroom on site at Stoke Mandeville Hospital … [and] unsupervised access to the wards. ibid.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and one-time lover of disgraced child abuser Jeffrey Epstein is behind bars facing trial. The charges against her – finding and grooming young girls for Epstein. Chasing Ghislaine I: Sins of the Father, Vicky Ward, Quest Red 2022
‘She actually took part in sexually abusing the teens.’ ibid. prosecutor
I now understand that the root to Jeffrey’s ability to cover up his crimes was his extraordinary skill at manipulation as well as the very powerful figures who surrounded him. ibid.
Ghislaine Maxwell is the gatekeeper to a tale that’s even deeper and darker. ibid.
Maxwell’s bullying was not confined to outsiders; he ruled his family with an iron fist as well. ibid.
He was bankrupt. Throughout his whole life he was condemned as a crook in one instance after another. ibid. Tom Bower, biographer
The publishing business he built served a second purpose: access. ibid.
Three people I interviewed say Maxwell did other types of work for Israel as well. ibid.
Deeply weird. This was the guy she was dating. Why the hell would she be finding young girls for him. Chasing Ghislaine s1e2: Power Geisha, friend
This very strange confusion as to nobody quite knowing for sure when she and Jeffrey actually met. ibid.
Hoffenberg [Ponzi scheme] has since said that Jeffrey was the mastermind behind the crime … Hoffenberg says Jeffrey stole money from his company. ibid.
The network of guys who lifted up Jeffrey Epstein and enabled these alleged sex crimes – that endures. Chasing Ghislaine s1e3
Epstein didn’t just get a short sentence, his lawyers negotiated a non-prosecution agreement for him … and he was released six days a week to go to his office. ibid.
It seems he uses these high-powered individuals to attract others. ibid.
Gates flew on Jeffrey’s plane at least once and visited his home many times. And there are rumours Gates’s divorce from his wife Melinda is in some part connected to these visits. ibid.
How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime. ibid. The Miami Herald article Julie K Brown
In the late ’90s, 16 children were removed from their parents and never came back. There ensued 16 years of controversial trials also known to the press as ‘the Devils of Lower Modena’. Veleno: The Town of Lost Children, captions, Sky Documentaries 2022
A paedophile ring organised parties and took pictures. ibid. television news
In 2015 journalist Pablo Trincia stumbled on the case and after years of investigations, he produces the podcast Veleno. ibid. caption
Satanic rituals inside graveyards: the adults were sentenced to dozens of years of jail and never saw their children again. ibid.
‘I was blindfolded when they did those things. They had masks. They wore the mask of a devil and the robe of a monk.’ Veleno: The Town of Lost Children II, girl
It was really strange that a little girl in another department with another colleague was telling and describing similar scenarios. ibid. therapist
Following the seven convictions in the first trial in early 1998 social services were informed of new allegations of child sexual abuse. ibid. commentary
If social workers could do what they wanted, then the threat to your children felt like the breath on your neck of a ferocious beast chasing you. ibid. mother
In the following months, investigations continued at full speed. In a protected place and without the knowledge of their families the children participated in a series of filmed meetings with the therapists appointed by the judge for the preliminary investigation. ibid. commentary
There was confidence in the community that this was a judicial error. So this community voiced its conviction. ibid.
What pained me most was to know they were in the hands of scum. Those people were scum. Veleno: The Town of Lost Children III, mother
According to the prosecution, Don Giorgio is the leading figure of the group of alleged paedophiles. ibid.
I don’t know why they are accusing me. I do not even know the children. ibid. Don Giorgio
I felt the therapists were more powerful than the magistrates. Can this be a fair trial? I would say no. ibid. woman
The police never noticed anything. In this process there was talk of ritual murders. No child’s body was ever found, not a trace of blood. There was talk of unearthed caskets. Not a square centimetre of unearthed soil was ever found. ibid. Don Giorgio’s lawyer
All the defendants were convicted including for the charges of ritual cemetery abuse. ibid.
June 9th 2010: Convicted in the first degree, acquitted on appeal overturned sentence for two parents from Modena accused of abusing their four children. ibid. television news
‘They made me kill little kids’ [child] … How did they come to tell those stories? Who talked to them? How did they talk to them? Veleno: The Town of Lost Children IV
It was impressive to discover how this story, which at first seemed like a strange unique provincial story was actually part of a gigantic phenomenon. It was a recurring theme … Around the United States there sprung up like mushrooms cases that had similar elements. ibid.
How can a child tell such a story while laughing and joking? ibid.
None of them [children and adoptive parents] had any doubts. They all believed that the truth had come out from the trial. ibid.
I saw violence in that [therapist] attitude … Depending on the terms you use in your question, you risk influencing the answer. ibid.
It is disputed that the methods of empathic listening which do not take into account the potential presence of suggestions are dangerous because they risk creating false memories and accusations. ibid.
‘Honestly, I’m not even sure any more what happened or didn’t happen. They took me away when I saw little. So many therapists also try to make you say what they want you to say. ibid. Dario’s interview
So we understand that we are dealing with a young man who for 20 years of his life believed he had killed children he never killed. ibid.
An entire community had suddenly awakened from its slumber. ibid.