All the Lies They Did Not Tell: The True Story of Satanic Panic in an Italian Community

by Pablo Trincia, Elettra Pauletto (Translator)

Overview

The accusations. The suspicions. The devastating impact. This is the true story of the Devils of the Bassa Modenese—the most notorious Satanic Panic investigation in the history of Italy.

In 1997 a six-year-old boy questioned by authorities relayed disturbing stories of abuse. The more he talked, the more people were implicated in his shocking revelations. And he was only the first child to come forward.

Within a year, fifteen more children with similar tales were transferred out of the Bassa region of Italy to protected locations. Their parents were accused of belonging to a satanic sect that performed sex rituals under the aegis of beloved local priest Don Giorgio Govoni. With each child’s confession, the network of monsters grew. Families were torn apart. Lives were forever destroyed—and some ended—as allegations of kidnapping, torture, sacrifice, and murder escalated beyond comprehension.

But what was really happening in the Bassa Modenese?

In this gripping account of the Satanic Panic of the 1990s, investigative journalist Pablo Trincia returns to the scene of the crimes to find the answer. And the truth he uncovers is as terrifying as the lies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781542039109
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	08/01/2022
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.38(d)

About the Author

Pablo Trincia has worked as an award-winning correspondent and writer for print media, TV, and the web. In 2017, he and his colleague Alessia Rafanelli wrote the podcast Veleno, a highly acclaimed investigative audio series released in eight episodes on LaRepubblica.it. The investigation reopened the case of the Devils of the Bassa Modenese, one of the darkest and most controversial cases the Italian legal system has tackled in recent years.

Elettra Pauletto translates from Italian and French into English. Her writing and translations have appeared in Harper’s, Guernica, and Quartz, while her book translations have spanned a range of subjects, including music, art, and narrative nonfiction. She earned her MFA in creative writing and translation from Columbia University and now divides her time between Italy and western Massachusetts. For more information visit www.elettrapauletto.com.

Table of Contents

Part I Contagion 1

Part II What Lies Beneath 55

Part III An Army of Ghosts 93

Part IV The Twenty-Year-Long Night 135

Acknowledgments 233

References 235

The Book 237

About the Author 239

About the Translator 241

Editorial Reviews

A difficult read but an eye-opening story best suited for die-hard true-crime fans.” —Kirkus Reviews

“In this harrowing account…Trincia lets the facts speak for themselves. True crime fans won’t want to miss this engrossing tale of mass hysteria and a massive failure of the Italian court system.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2022-07-02
A true-crime book set in late-1990s Italy focuses on the phenomenon of “Satanic Panic.”

Italian journalist Trincia introduces readers to “the Devils of the Bassa Modenese,” a series of criminal cases in the Bassa region of Italy centered on alleged ritual acts of pedophilia and terror against at least 16 children. The author narrates a complex tale of children—mainly from poor and/or troubled families—who were forcibly removed from their homes by the regional bureaucracy. These removals, which seemed to occur like falling dominoes, began with the testimony of Dario, one boy who shared truly horrific tales of “ritual satanic abuse and sexual violence.” In addition to his stories of sexual abuse, Dario described how young victims were threatened, beaten, tortured, and forced to take part in acts of violence, including the murders of other children. Due to his testimonies—and then those of other children—several families were broken apart, many parents were imprisoned, and various suspected pedophiles were also charged, often on little evidence aside from the words of the children. Trincia explores the local view that, in many cases, what was at stake was an ideological battle between church-influenced families and the communist-influenced state, which often subverted traditional family values. Indeed, Trincia explains how most accused individuals were acquitted due to the questionable nature of much of the evidence, including physical exams that failed to prove abuse despite initial reports. Though Trincia deftly avoids making his own judgement, it is clear that most questioning of the children was highly unprofessional, at best, and aggressively interrogative, at worst. The well-researched narrative is choppy in certain sections, and readers must deal with an onslaught of names and facts. Given the disturbing nature of the content, this one is not for the faint of heart.

A difficult read but an eye-opening story best suited for die-hard true-crime fans.

Kirkus Reviews