Recounts the true story of the murder of his parents committed by sixteen-year-old Sean Sellers, his involvement in Satanic rituals, and his belief that Satan commanded him to commit the crimes

A number of cases of serious child abuse have resulted from beliefs that children may be possessed by evil spirits and may then be given the power to bewitch others. Misfortune, failure, illness and even death may be blamed on them. The 'cure', nowadays called deliverance rather than exorcism, is to expel the spirits, sometimes by violent means. This book draws together contributions on aspects of possession and witchcraft from leading academics and expert practitioners in the field. It has been put together following conferences held by Inform, a charity that provides accurate information on new religions as a public service. There is no comparable information publicly available; this book is the first of its kind. Eileen Barker, founder of Inform, introduces the subject and Inform's Deputy Director goes on to detail the requests the charity has answered in recent years on the subject of children, possession and witchcraft. This book offers an invaluable resource for readers, whether academic or practitioner – particularly those in the fields of the safeguarding of children, and their education, health and general welfare.

Allegations of satanic child abuse became widespread in North America in the 1980s. Shortly afterwards, there were similar reports in Britain of sexual abuse, torture and murder, associated with worship of the Devil. Professor Jean La Fontaine, a senior British anthropologist, conducted a two year research project into these allegations, which found that they were without foundation. Her detailed analysis of a number of specific cases, and an extensive review of the literature, revealed no evidence of devil-worship. She concludes that the child witnesses come to believe that they are describing what actually happened to them, but that adults are manipulating the accusations. She draws parallels with classic instances of witchcraft accusations and witch-hunts in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe, and shows that beneath the hysteria there is a social movement, which is fostered by a climate of social and economic insecurity. Persuasively argued, this is an authoritative and scholarly account of an emotive issue.

Deserted by his mother and abandoned by his father at just three months old, Jerry Coyne was sent to live in a Catholic children's home run by nuns of the order of the Sisters of Nazareth. Life soon settled into a rhythm and then, one day, the beatings started. Harsh, vicious punishments became part of everyday life for the bemused little boy as the nuns attempted to beat the Devil out of him. Jerry began to hide behind bad behaviour and at the age of 12, his defiance resulted in him being sent to a boarding for boys with behavioural problems. Life then got worse when his housemaster, the man whose job it was to take care of him, began a regime of mental, physical and sexual abuse. Years of self-hatred and guilt led to Jerry suffering from a severe stammer and, eventually, he tried to hang himself. This was the turning point and, after finally finding the courage to go to the authorities, Jerry and numerous other victims came forward and were instrumental in the conviction and imprisonment of their abuser. Devil's Child is the devastating true story of a childhood destroyed by abuse and of a young man's struggle to try to come to terms with the past and believe in the future.

Daniel is raised as an invalid in isolation by his mother until the day she is removed to an asylum and Daniel is taken to live with the doctor's family. Soon Daniel begins to uncover secrets about his mother's dark family history, and a sinister doll seems to be at the centre of the mystery. First person recount. Suggested level: intermediate, secondary.