Lauren Stratford

Cornerstonemag is this christian based magazine that isn't active anymore but it keeps its archives online. I stumbled upon this really interesting article on Lauren Stratford that explores the truth behind her book Satan's Underground. This article was published in 1990 and the three authors conducted an incredible amount of research and interviews and really thoroughly-in their own words- "chronicle how one woman's gruesome fantasy was twisted into seeming fact." So she was actually born Laurel Rose Willson, and while she was adopted as she claims, she neglects to make any mention of her sister in her book.

Here are some interesting tidbits from the article:
1. After running away from her family when she was in her early twenties, Lauren lived with a woman named Billie Gordon and her family. Mrs. Gordon says that among countless other lies, Lauren once faked blindness for a period of time and when confronted (in sort of a humorous way) admitted that she did it "to obtain sympathy and attention".
2. Lauren's husband from her short-lived marriage admits that she was a virgin when they married- this being in direct contradiction to her claims that she had been sexually abused since childhood, lived as a prostitute and given birth to three children, the first as early as age 14.
3. Lauren's adoptive sister along with several individuals from Lauren's High school adamantly discredit Lauren's claims of teen pregnancy. Her sister also discredits a number of other lies concerning their parents.
4. Someone called "friend three" in the article says this: "Have you read the book Sybil? I didn't read it until I started taking my psychology classes. I realized that most of the stories Laurel had told me about her mom's abuse were taken literally from Sybil."

The article says that Lauren only began mentioning satanism as a part of her story in the mid-eighties, claiming that (around the time she was forced into hardcore prostitution) she had been branded as a love slave and had always worn bangs to cover the branding on her forehead.
Lauren Stratford also claimed to have personal knowledge of the McMartin Preschool ritual child abuse case, found here (which you guys might remember we touched on in class) One of the parents videotaped Lauren's story and showed it to the other parents, but most of them didn't find her credible. One of the parents said "she didn't give concrete, specific, testable details that hadn't already been reported in the news". Lauren also said that she had been in an ongoing lesbian relationship with Virginia McMartin and had been present when the child abuse had been going on. You get the impression from the article that the parents of the McMartin school children really didn't trust Stratford from the beginning and are (quite rightly) enraged at her obvious bid for attention.
A quote from the article:"Parent Leslie Floberg concluded our conversation in an angry outburst. "Put this in your magazine: I feel raped by the so-called Christians who've promoted Lauren Stratford as a victim just like our children."

Here's a bit from the article worth noting.
"The most stunning element of the true Laurel Willson story is that no one even checked out the main details. When we contacted Laurel's mother, sister, brother in law, cousin, church friends--in fact, anyone who would have known Laurel during the books most crucial years--we were chocked to discover that, in nearly every case, we were the first people to have contacted them!"

The kick in the throat is here
This bit is seriously demented and upsetting.