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Satan Worship on Upswing with Youths

  • That old black magic is destroying the country, according to a respected law enforcement authority.
By Mike Blair

The discovery of a satanic cult, with plans for ritualistic murder, in rural upstate New York once again focuses attention on the growing problem of devil worship in America.

Police in rural Lewis County in northern New York, about 40 miles north of the city of Utica, have uncovered a satanic cult, apparently well organized, among high school students.

The cult has stirred panic among students at South Lewis Central School in Turin, a small hamlet in the southern part of the county of about 25,000 population. According to reports from the Lewis county Sheriff's Department, the cult consists of from eight to 10 high school students of a student body of 400.

A deputy sheriff told The SPOTLIGHT more than a quarter of the student body stayed home, apparently kept there by their parents, the day after the arrest of the alleged cult leader, Trevor Richardson, 17, who was charged with circulating literature which "advocated physical harm."

The deputy said the cult members, mostly girls, gathered around Richardson's leadership, calling themselves the "Crows." He said they wore black clothing and used black makeup.

Deputies became interested in the case when "murder" was mentioned in one of the group's newsletters that they circulated among members.

The "murder" reference was directed against one of the member's mothers, who was apparently targeted to be killed. Ritualistic murder is not unusual among Satan worshipers, according to retired FBI special agent Ted L. Gunderson.

Gunderson is recognized by law enforcement as an authority on cults and Satan worship.

"It is common," Gunderson told The SPOTLIGHT, "for Satan worshipers to murder their mothers and is considered to display even more dedication to the cult for mothers to murder their children in some bizarre ritualistic way."

Gunderson said that since his retirement from the FBI in the late 1970s his research and investigation of Satanism has revealed it is "virtually everywhere in society and the country.

EVEN IN CHURCHES

He said evidence has been uncovered which indicates Satan worshipers are secretly infiltrating America's churches and that Satanists have infiltrated all levels of government. "There are Satanists in congress," Gunderson charged, "and there are Satanists within the Clinton administration."

The incident in upstate New York recalls a similar cult that was recently uncovered in Mississippi, where a cult member slashed the throat of his mother and then went to his school and randomly shot at fellow students.

Similar cult activities in schools have been reported in Louisiana in recent months, as well as in other states across the country.

"I can tell you one thing,' Gunderson said. "This is not something the students at that New York school cooked up by themselves.

"There is adult activity somewhere in the background," he said. "The police should be looking closely at teachers, parents, even community leaders, who have links to these kids."

It is not unusual, Gunderson said, for adult Satan Worshipers to be involved in child molestation, even using children as ritualistic sacrifices.

"There are actually organized rings across the country involved in Satanism that kidnap children to use for their perverted sexual purposes and even torture and murder," he added.

CHILDREN DISAPPEAR

"Thousands upon thousands of children of all ages become missing evry year," Gunderson further explained, "and I can assure you all of these are not cases of simple runaways or kidnaping. Many, I repeat, many are cases of Satanic kidnaping.

"It used to be," Gunderson said, "our FBI was interested in such things. Today, however, they seem more interested in going after parents who try to protect their children from such crimes by taking them away from sexually abusive, often Satanic, spouses."

Gunderson said he has sent case files of Satan worship cults, involving child abuse, to the FBI.

"They don't even reply," Gunderson concluded.

The incident at South Lewis Central School in New York is not the first time evidence of Satan worship has surfaced in rural Lewis County.

Several years ago, deputies uncovered in another section of the county the remains of animals that had been used as ritualistic sacrifices.

In another instance, a dog killed in such a ritual was hung from the facade of a neighboring school by the son of a former school board member and others involved in the cult, which was deeply involved in drugs.

The investigation by the sheriff's department is continuing.