Case file · Witch trials
Kern County child abuse cases
From 1982 prosecutors in Bakersfield charged dozens of people with belonging to child-abuse rings, some said to be satanic. More than 30 were convicted on children's testimony obtained by repeated interviews.
1982 CE · 35.37, -119.02 · status: official
The account
Almost all convictions were later overturned; John Stoll was freed in 2004 after 20 years when the now-adult witnesses recanted.
The sceptical view
The cases are now seen as a modern witch-hunt driven by suggestive interviewing.