The 1980s Satanic Panic saw Christian fundamentalists push the idea that Satanic cults were systematically abusing children in rituals and committing widespread murder mostly in the US, and successfully convince the general public through sensational news coverage. Christian groups typically misrepresented the Church’s beliefs and practices in order to fabricate a real-world villain behind the conspiracy for the media.
Serial killer Richard Ramirez, when finally captured in 1985, claimed to be a Satanist, employing Satanic symbolism to his look and claiming to know Lavey, adding fuel to the fire of the panic. Lavey claimed they had briefly met in the streets in the 1970s, but Ramirez had never set foot in the church.
The panic escalated, with Satanic Ritual Abuse becoming a standard aspect of high profile cases like the McMartin School in California. These criminal cases featured a consistent lack of evidence and alleged coercion on the part of child psychologists pushing the conspiracy theory. The zeal of the fundamentalists led to few if any investigations or prosecutions of actual Satanists. Most of the victims of the frenzy were other Christians.