Archive for The Kellers
Dan, Fran Keller to get $3.4 million in ‘satanic day care’ case
“Dan and Fran Keller, who spent more than 21 years in prison after they were accused of sexually abusing children during supposed satanic rituals at their South Austin day care facility, will receive $3.4 million from a state fund for …
Texas Couple Exonerated, but we have New Witches to Hunt
“Viewed in retrospect, it seems that otherwise sensible people quite simply lost their minds. Social workers, therapists, prosecutors and cops joined a fruitcake crusade that ruined people’s lives, based on the coerced claims of vulnerable little kids.”
Read the editorial…
Couple Exonerated in ‘Satanic Panic’ Child Ritual Abuse Case
“The Kellers were not the only ones to face outlandish charges; in the 1980s and early ’90s, a phenomenon that has since become known as “Satanic Panic” was sweeping the nation. A confluence of societal factors led to widespread hysteria …
Babysitters Accused of Satanic Crimes Exonerated After 25 Years
“The decision brings an end to one of the more prominent cases brought during the so-called Satanic Panic of the 1980s and the early 1990s, where fears of devil-worshippers influencing American children spread rapidly. During this time, hundreds of childcare …
Fran and Dan Keller Declared Actually Innocent
“Nearly two years after the state’s highest criminal court overturned the child sexual abuse convictions for day care owners Dan and Fran Keller, Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore will file court documents Tuesday declaring them “actually innocent” under the …
Point Austin: Justice Too Long Delayed
If all this were not enough, the now elderly Kellers, who have been remarkably stoic and patient – even forgiving – during their long ordeal, are near a breaking point. They live on minimal Social Security, supplemented unevenly by family …
Convicted of a Crime That Never Happened
“Today, there are few true believers left who vocally insist upon this history. To many in the criminal justice system, it is now a source of embarrassment that there was ever a time when police and prosecutors …
Learning From Our Mistakes
“Fran and Dan Keller were prosecuted wrongly and unjustly. It’s long past time for their complete exoneration.”
The Kellers have long been sponsored by the National Center for Reason and Justice.
Read the article by Michael …
Conviction of Things Not Seen: The Uniquely American Myth of Satanic Cults
“Satanism lacks a Jones or Koresh. Satanism has no Jonestown, no Waco, no Kool-Aid, no casual point of reference. This is because Satanic cults, as imagined in popular culture, do not exist. Still, some places across the country—West Memphis, Arkansas; …
The ongoing legacy of the great satanic sex abuse panic
“Ultimately, the panic and power of suggestion was pervasive enough to dupe our entire criminal justice system, as dozens of innocent people were sent to prison for crimes for which there was no evidence other than the coerced testimony of …