For nearly 30 years, the False Memory Syndrome Foundation went to bat for alleged perpetrators of child molestation in cases where victims recovered repressed memories of childhood abuse. The cornerstone of their defense was False Memory Syndrome. But as sexual abuse researcher Michael Salter has pointed out, no such syndrome is recognized as a valid medical diagnosis.
The foundation’s entire basis being fictitious may be one reason why the FMSF quietly shut down in December of last year.
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) was founded in 1992 by Pamela Freyd and her husband, Peter Freyd. Peter was accused by his daughter — falsely by his account — of childhood sexual abuse at the height of the repressed or recovered memory controversy in the 1980s and 90s. It offered support to family members who believed they were falsely accused and highlighted memory research from major academics such as Elizabeth Loftus.
Among its key principles, FMSF elevated Dr. John F. Kihlstrom’s definition of a proposed “false memory syndrome” — which has never been ratified as an actual diagnosis — to question and deconstruct the rise in adults now accusing family members of sexual abuse that never happened. The FMSF amassed heavy hitters in academia and law to help defend family members “falsely” accused of abuse by their adult children, effectively swinging the public narrative to one of mistrust of survivors.
The timing of the FMSF’s closure may be significant. The foundation closed up shop almost exactly two months after Mister Metokur’s reporting on an FBI document dump that confirmed the reality of 1980s “Satanic Panic” child ritual abuse.
For those who were out sick that day, Jim’s perusal of the FBI docs uncovered a group called the Finders which operated from the 1960s at least into the 90s. Recruited from the hippie subculture, the Finders carried out industrial-scale kidnapping, child trafficking, and ritual abuse–all with government sponsorship.
When accusations of child sexual and ritual abuse were lodged against McMartin Daycare, Peter Freyd’s bogus False Memory Syndrome was trotted out to undermine the victims’ testimony. A map found in the FBI files linked the McMartin case to the Finders.
A couple of Metokur live streams later, and the FMSF is no more. Coincidence? Possibly, but the whole affair smacks of rats fleeing a fire.
Is somebody turning up the heat on an unholy cabal of satanists and government spooks?
We can hope.