The State - News from July 4, 1986

The Kern County Grand Jury charged that the Kern County Sheriff’s Department proceeded from a presumption of guilt in its investigation of unsubstantiated reports of satanic baby killings. The panel also said that child welfare workers relied on gut feelings to prolong the separation of children and adults implicated in the 1985 case. Dist. Atty. Ed Jagels decided last September that there was insufficient evidence to warrant any charges based on children’s statements in molestation investigations. Last year’s grand jury also criticized Sheriff Larry Kleier’s handling of the case. Kleier repeatedly stated that he believed the children’s stories that up to 77 adults were involved in the supposed killings of 29 babies. The state attorney general’s office is reviewing the investigation itself.