One of the most tragic cases of the child abuse hysteria, the Satanic Panic, of the 80s, was that Bernie Baran, a 19-year-old who worked at a day care center. The mass hysteria centered around day care centers across the country, and hundreds of people were falsely accused and imprisoned as a result. Baran was one of the youngest. Baran was targeted by one set of parents because he was gay. They got the ball rolling and parents were soon interrogating their children to come clean, and as expected, kids started making up stories to please their parents. Filmed interviews with the children were edited to remove statements that exonerated Baran. Eventually justice was done but Baran was only released from jail in 2006, 21 years afterwards. When released he had spent more time living in prison than living as a free individual. Baran sued the state for wrongful conviction and they state settled with him for $400,000. Baran collapsed a couple of weeks ago and died. Gay men in particular are often the victims of such accusations which is why they should be concerned about these witch hunts.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 08:46:07 +0000
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