The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Turning a Blind Eye to the Evidence in the So-Called Name of Justice

 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30145961/

 For more than two decades, conventional wisdom about the high-profile day care cases of the 1980s and early 1990s suggests all were modern-day witch hunts, based on false allegations made by highly suggestible children during an era when society was gripped by a "believe the children" hysteria. Author Ross Cheit refutes conventional wisdom by conducting an exhaustive examination of original data from dozens of cases bearing the witch hunt label. He concludes there was no witch-hunt epidemic, finding substantial evidence of sexual abuse in nearly every case he reviewed, contradicting the assertions made about those cases by what he calls the witch-hunt narrative. Cheit examines the legacy of the witch-hunt narrative and contends its exaggerated claims about the suggestibility of children have had a negative effect on the credibility of children today who allege being sexually abused.