WASHINGTON -- The knight in the shining armor always comes to the child's rescue in fairy tales and in a new children's book by a former Washington, D.C., police officer, Sir Edward finds missing children.
Author Edward Jagen, otherwise known as Sir Edward, says his fairy tale, 'A Good Knight Story,' and the lessons he tries to teach children to avoid abduction comes at a time when children might be more vulnerable to kidnappings for horribly evil purposes.
June 21 is the summer solstice, a red-letter day on the satanic calendar. As part of High Black Mass, satanic cult leaders believe they must sacrifice something living. It could be an animal, but even more 'acceptable' is a virgin Christian female or an infant.
Jagen said he is concerned about possible abductions for a sacrificial ceremony because Satan worshippers apparently do not want to use 'breeder children' for Black Mass. These are babies supposedly conceived soley for the purpose of sacrifice.
'The last thing I want to be is an alarmist. But, yes, I'm concerned' something may happen, Jagen said. 'Within their religion, satanists must defile a Christian human. But there are many, many more individuals, just for self-gratification, who will just go out and hurt someone,' he said.
Nancy Laubis, a volunteer with the Cult Awareness Network's Washington, D.C., chapter, said satanists are a very secretive, underground group of rebellious people, mostly teenage boys.
'I've read books that document horrible things, but there's no proof,' she said. 'But there's always fear.'
In the Washington area, there have been incidents that Jagen believes were preparatory for a Black Mass ceremony. Skulls have disappeared from a vault at a Washington cemetery and religious paraphernalia were stolen from six southern Maryland churches. Some arrests have been made.
He said there have been reports of similar activity in New York, Chicago, California, Florida, Texas, Colorado and Louisiana.
FBI Special Agent Kenneth Lanning, whose dual specialties are child abductions and the occult, contends certain crimes involving body mutilation or the drinking of blood, for example, are not necessarily the work of a cult member.
And the fact that an especially gruesome crime was committed on a date with satanic significance, such as Black Mass or Halloween, may not mean much.
Lanning said he has been unable to identify one murder that could be considered a satanic murder.
'The fact is that far more crime and child abuse has been committed by zealots in the name of God, Jesus and Mohammed than has ever been committed in the name of Satan. Many people don't like that statement, but few can argue with it,' Lanning wrote in a 1989 paper for the FBI.
About 4,500 children under 18 are abducted by non-family members every year, according to the latest government statistics. The majority of the victims are teenagers.
Jagen's 'A Good Knight Story' is a Middle Ages tale of a brave knight, Sir Edward, whose quest is to find the Missing Children of Spring. In the adventure, he weaves in the 10 most common tricks used by abductors to lure children.
The 'ABC's' of tricks to get a victim's confidence are:
--'A' for authority, in which the abductor shows a fake badge or other symbol to establish authority.
--'B' is for bribery, in which the person offers the child candy, Nintendo video games or some other inducement.
--'C' is for crisis, in which the person says the child's mother is sick and has sent him to take the child to the hospital.
--'D' is for danger, in which a gun or other weapon is used.
--'E' is for ego, in which the abductor tells the female victim she is beautiful and for a sum of money, he would like to photograph her in his van.
--'F' is for false love, in which the person sees parents scolding a child. When the child wanders off sulking, the abductor tells the child he would never treat him or her that way.
--'G' is for games and is the reason Jagen got interested in the field of abduction and molestation.
'When I as a child, 8 years old, the maid used this on me. You play simple games, then you are molested. The game could be to hide the quarter and finding it involves touching,' he said.
--'H' is for help, in which the abductor asks the child to help him find a lost kitty in the woods.
--'I' is for idol, in which the abductor dresses up like Michael Jackson or some other idol and asks the child to go with him.
--'J' is for jobs, in which the abductor offers jobs to an unsuspecting person.
Jagen was a detective with the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department for about 20 years and now operates a security firm with Dennis V.N. McCarthy, the former U.S. Secret Service agent who subdued John Hinckley after his 1981 attempt on President Reagan's life.
'A Good Knight Story,' not available commercially, is being used in classrooms and is part of a nationwide child abuse prevention campaign by Childhelp USA, a non-profit organization.
