Please send as far and wide as possible. Thanks, Robert Sterling Editor, The Konformist http://www.konformist.com US Army Lt. Colonel Michael Aquino is a notorious figure within the conspiracy subculture. Founder of the Temple of Set (after leaving the Church of Satan), Aquino is perhaps best known in con circles for his involvement in a sex abuse scandal at the Presidio. He is also the winner of the Beast of the Month for July 1997. In 1999, I put up the Aquino files on this site at the request of Curio Jones. (It was soon taken down at the request of Curio, after getting heat from abuse victims who disapproved of The Konformist site.) In email, I informed Aquino of this, and offered to put up any response he had. Here is the first detailed written response to the allegations that he has okayed for my release. Much of the background is lost, but if you check out his BOTM profile and the Disinfo.com profile of him, you'll be able to fill in the blanks. If anyone chooses to dispute his version, I encourage you to email me an opposing view, just as I offered him. Thank you, Robert Sterling Editor, The Konformist [EMAIL PROTECTED] Michael A. Aquino, Ph.D. Lt. Colonel, Military Intelligence, USAR-Ret. * * * CORRECTIONS * * * >But just exactly WAS going on at the Presidio remains >puzzling, mainly due to the fact that there never was a trial. Following the publication of the "recovered memories of Satanic ritual abuse" book _Michelle Remembers_ in 1980, the United States and other Anglo-American countries went through a decade of "SRA" scares and witch-hunts. After the 1984 McMartin Preschool became internationally publicized in one such scare, day-care facilities generally became targets of "SRA" witch- hunt instigators. The epidemic extended to U.S. military services as well, including 15 U.S. Army day-care centers and elementary schools by 1987. In late 1986 it was the turn of the Presidio of San Francisco. On 9/28/86 the _San Francisco Examiner_ began a series of 8 front-page stories sensationalizing the witch-hunts. Approximately a month later one set of Presidio parents claimed that their son might have been anally raped by one of the day-care teachers, Gary Hambright, and the scare was off and running, with scores of children being "abuse-diagnosed" by a "play-therapist" despite not a single published confirmation of actual physical harm to any child. Hambright denied any "abusing" whatever, and all of the other teachers and staff supported him. As in other witch-hunts it made no difference: Over the next year Hambright was suspended, indicted, charges dropped, reindicted, charges redropped amidst a massive media frenzy. Parents rushed to file over $84 million in claims, as was also routine in such witch-hunts. [The previous year a similar, highly-publicized witch-hunt at West Point had resulted in $110 million claims.] Hambright was originally indicted 12/86 on the basis of allegations made by the Tobin parents (which kicked off the witchhunt). This indictment was dismissed 3/87 on the grounds of hearsay. After more parent/therapist input to investigators, Hambright was reindicted 9/87 on "two counts of oral copulation and 10 counts of lewd & lascivious conduct" (_SF Chronicle_ 1/4/88). All of these charges were dropped by 2/17/88. On 2/18/88 the _Chronicle_ said: "The final count of oral copulation against the former Southern Baptist minister was dismissed by U.S. District Judge William Schwarzer after the parents of the alleged victim said their child could not withstand the rigors of the trial." [The Tobins originally alleged "anal rape" of their son by Hambright. When a pediatrician refuted any evidence of this on S.F. television, the allegation was promptly switched to "oral copulation".] No news article that I have ever read indicated that there was a shred of *physical* evidence showing that *any* child at the Presidio had been sexually abused in connection with that scam. I say "news article" because I was not privy to investigators' records on the Hambright allegations, and can verify only what I read in the media. Partway through the investigation a stir was created when the media announced that several of the children had been diagnosed with Chlamydia. However (a) the Army later announced the tests were unreliable, (b) no retesting of the children was ever conducted, (c) Chlamydia can be transmitted by direct contact with any mucuous membrane [such as mouth or eyes], (d) no testing of the children's parents for this disease was conducted, and (e) reportedly Hambright did not have this disease. [For that matter, as verified by our own medical records, neither my wife Lilith nor I has ever had it either.] The *only* "evidence" against Hambright thus consisted of parental hearsay allegations and the allegations of "therapist" Debbie Hickey, the Army psychiatrist who conducted the "play therapy" indoctrination sessions for the children once the scam got underway. Later on, after Lilith and I had been attacked by Chaplain Adams- Thompson, I met with Hambright's public defenders in their S.F. office to see what documents they might provide which might help us. During that meeting (which occurred after the second dropping of all charges against Hambright), I bluntly asked the two lawyers if there were *any* actual evidence - not just accusations - that Hambright had committed any abuse crime whatever. They both said, "None at all." [They didn't say "no comment" or "we can't discuss that".] To me the ultimate proof that no Hambright abuse was committed is the *timeline*. According to the _Chronicle_ story quoted above, Hambright was ultimately accused of sexual attacks of up to 60 children during the period May 85-November 86 (when the Tobins made their allegations and started the witchhunt against him). Is it possible that 60 children 3-6 years old (the only age group in Hambright's daycare classes) could have been raped and sodomized for *a year and a half* before the Tobins made their allegations *and not a single parent noticed anything wrong with any child either physically or behaviorally during that year-and-a-half*? I assume that none of the parents ever took any child to the Presidio hospital for any such problem during that time, otherwise symptoms of sexual abuse would have started an investigation *right then*. No one noticed *anything* the slightest bit wrong with *any* child until *after* the Tobins had started the whole accusation/"therapy" show on the road. These are the basic facts I know about the Hambright allegations. On 1/6/90 the _Chronicle_ stated that Hambright had died 11/8/89 of AIDS: "'This seems to be the sad, final chapter in the story,' said Nanci Clarence, one of two federal public defenders who represented Hambright in the child molestation case. 'Gary died with a clear conscience. It's just too bad that he had to spend the final two years of his life battling these baseless charges.'" >So how did Aquino, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran >and former Green Beret, end up as a suspect in a child >molestation case? Left out of the Presidio claims bonanza were Christian chaplain Larry Adams-Thompson and his wife Michele, who had never reported their daughter Kinsey for any physical or psychological symptoms during the entire time she had been under Hambright's supervision at the day-care center (9/1-10/31/86). In their original 1/87 FBI interviews both parents were specific about that "date- window", because Kinsey turned 3 on 9/1/86 and, as confirmed by the Presidio Director of Personnel & Community Affairs, Hambright supervised only children age 3 and older. Despite Kinsey's untouched state [on 3/12/87 Presidio doctors examined her and pronounced her a virgin free from any physical signs of abuse], her parents placed her in an intensive 8-month program of "play-therapy". The same "therapist" who pronounced the scores of other children "abused" soon pronounced Kinsey "abused" as well. Her parents, however, were not content with just accusing Hambright. In 6/87 Michele introduced "SRA" themes and insinuations about me - who had been a topic of curiosity and gossip as a famous Satanist officer throughout my 1981-86 assignment to the Presidio Headquarters - to the "therapist". Then on 8/13/87 Larry and/or Michele saw my wife Lilith and myself at the Presidio post exchange and went running to the witch-hunt investigators alleging that their daughter had accused us of kidnapping and raping her while she was under Hambright's supervision. This quickly resulted in an even more sensationalistic international media storm. The San Francisco Police investigated, verified that Lilith and I had been 3,000 miles away in Washington, D.C. - where I was on duty every single day Kinsey was at the daycare center 9/1-10/31/86 - and closed the case with no charges accordingly. >According to the San Francisco Chronicle: > >"In a police report filed in August, a 3-year-old girl who >attended the Presidio day care center alleges that she >was molested at Aquino's Russian Hill home by Aquino >and Gary Hambright ... In fact, as a reading of that police report makes clear, the child was never interviewed by the SFPD and made no such allegations at all. The person who made the allegations was her stepfather, Chaplain Larry Adams-Thompson, who invented them with his wife Michele in order to attempt to defraud the U.S. Government of $3 million in falsified claims based upon them. >"Aquino has strongly denied involvement in the girl's >molestation, saying he was 3,000 miles away from San >Francisco, attending classes at the National Defense >University in Washington at the time." (San Francisco >Chronicle, Nov. 3, 1987, p. A7). The "date-window" specified by Larry & Michele Adams- Thompson was 9/1-10/31/86, because this was the only period during which their stepdaughter Kinsey was in Hambright's class at the day-care center, and he was essential to their allegation-story. Kinsey was a "drop off" child at the center, which meant that on every such drop-off her parents had to pay for the supervision, which they did by check. Investigators later obtained all of their checks for that "window", establishing all dates on which she had been at the daycare center. A comparison of these dates with my daily class-attendance records at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. (where I was assigned during that "window") verified that I was in class, 3000 miles away, on all possible dates for the Larry/Michele allegations. >Certainly it would have been easy for a 3-year-old child >to become confused. But apparently she recalled enough >to name "Mr. Gary" and Aquino as her abusers ... As noted above, the child made no allegations against my wife or myself at all. The allegations were invented by her parents and stated to the San Francisco Police by her stepfather Larry. On 1/14/87, after the Presidio child-care witch-hunt against Hambright had been in process for two months, Larry and Michele Adams-Thompson were interviewed by the FBI. - - From the transcript of the FBI report: a. "Mrs. Adams-Thompson advised that her daughter Kinsey had been attending the school [Presidio Child Development Center (CDC)] since spring 1986. When she turned 3 in September, she was transferred to 'Mr. Gary's' (Gary Hambright) class." b. "When Mrs. Adams-Thompson asked if Mr. Gary had been mean to her or tried to touch her, Kinsey replied negatively." In this interview - only 2-1/2 months after the "window" in which Adams-Thompson parents would later allege so many different and dramatic sexual atrocities occurred - the Adams-Thompsons stated their child's denial of any abuse. They made no mention of any emergency medical care of Kinsey, such as would have been necessary had she been abused as they would later allege. They made no mention of anyone other than Hambright at all, nor of any reason to think that Kinsey had been abducted from the day-care center at any time. They did not accuse Hambright of anything. On 3/12/87 Kinsey was medically examined, including both her vagina and rectum, at Letterman Army Hospital. The findings of this medical examination stated specifically that there was "no physical evidence of abuse". Obviously this was very inconvenient for her parents, who realized that they weren't going to cash in on the witch-hunt claims bonanza unless they could somehow invent and sell an "abuse" story concerning their child. >and to identify Aquino's house at 2430 Leavenworth St. >as the place where the molestation occurred. To the SFPD on 8/14/87 Larry Adams-Thompson stated that on 8/13/87: "Michele and Kinsey responded to the 2400 block of Leavenworth, and Kinsey was told to see if she could recognize any of the houses that she had been to before. While walking past 2430 Leavenworth, Kinsey identified that as the residence of Mr. Gary where she had met 'Mikey' and 'Shamby'." However the 8/13/87 record of this trip by CID Special Agent Bradley Potter reveals that virtually every element of Larry's statement to Pamfiloff concerning it was a lie. Potter acknowledges that "Kinsey did not direct SA Potter, who was driving, where to turn or which route to take. SA Potter drove to the vicinity of the 2400 block of Leavenworth Street, San Francisco". [They took the child to no other blocks either before or after.] The CID report states that the adults drove Kinsey up and down the 2400 block twice, each time eliciting no response from her whatever. Then, obviously determined that the child would do *something* that could be represented as an "identification", they parked the car and walked her down the same street. By now, of course, it was obvious to Kinsey that whatever they wanted her to "recognize" was on that block and that block only [among the thousands in San Francisco]. When the group reached 2430, Michele stopped, picked up Kinsey, pointed her at the building, and told her that "she was safe and no one would hurt her". Kinsey still said nothing whatever. That, per its official CID report, was the famous "identification" - a detail which Larry Adams-Thompson somehow forgot to provide or mention in his later allegations to the SFPD. >Other details were recalled as well, according to the Chronicle: >"The child told investigators that, at the home, she was filmed >while bathing in a room that had black walls and a cross >painted on the ceiling." (San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 30, >1987, p. A1). As noted above, Kinsey was never interviewed by the SFPD. The above allegation was made by her stepfather Larry, and was unsupported by any of the child's own statements in her "therapy" indoctrination, as verified by their official records. Larry Adams-Thompson's actual allegation to the SFPD was "The living room had black walls and a cross painted on the ceiling." As the SFPD verified during its raid, our living room was beige with a beige ceiling and had/has no cross painted on the ceiling. Nor did/does any other room have a cross on the ceiling. The only black room in our home was the bedroom, which was so small that there was no room for any chairs, etc. in it besides the full-size bed. It could not possibly be mistaken for a "living room". >The girl also recalled that the tub in which she bathed was >a "plastic lion bathtub." Larry Adams-Thompson's actual allegation to the SFPD was "the house had a bathtub with lions feet". When the SFPD raided our home, they discovered that its bathtub is flush to the floor, with no feet nor decorations whatever. >By February 1987, the child had visited an Army therapist >several times, and had 'disclosed being molested.' She blamed >the molestations on 'Mikey' and 'Shamby.' - From the therapist session notes, later subpoenaed: In six months of sessions, from January through June 1987, Kinsey never mentions a "Mikey" at all. Rather it is her mother *Michele* who first introduces this name, and the allegation of "Mikey" as a molester, to therapist Hickey and Kinsey in the 6/30/87 session. Michele also introduced the "Army officer" association during this session. [Inconveniently, when shown a selection of officer insignia during the session, Kinsey selected a warrant officer rank emblem, which looks nothing like a Lt. Colonel's silver maple leaf.] "Shambee" (Hickey's spelling) appeared first in the official notes on 1/27/87, introduced by Kinsey as "her friend at school" who was spanked by Mr. Rogers on TV. Kinsey added that Shambee "also had its neck broken", indicating that "Shambee" is either an imaginary "friend" or perhaps a doll. "Shambee" was reintroduced as "Mikey's wife" by *Michele* Adams-Thompson on 6/30/87. Kinsey never alleged any abuse, or participation in abuse by "Shambee", at any time. >"Events in the following months are not detailed in the report. >But in August, the report says, the girl and her father were >shopping in the Presido PX and the girl suddenly became >afraid. "'The victim ran to (her father) and in a frightened >way clutched his leg. (The father) looked up and saw a man >whom he knew to be Michael Aquino,' the report says. When >she was asked whether she knew Aquino,' she said, 'Yes, >that's Mikey.' "A few minutes later, she told her father that >a woman with Aquino was 'Shamby.' Again, the report simply relates what Larry Adams-Thompson alleged to the SFPD. In fact there is *only* the word of the two adult Adams-Thompsons that this incident ever happened at all. All that is known for certain is that Larry and/or Michele saw us at the PX on that day. There is *no* evidence that Kinsey was with them. There is *no* evidence that Kinsey reacted to anyone as they alleged. There is *no* evidence that Kinsey "identified" anyone as they alleged. Inconveniently the two adult Adams-Thompsons gave different, contradictory in numerous details, and in some aspects physically impossible versions of this "PX story" to various investigators. Lilith and I noticed no such commotion at the PX [we still do not know what any of the Adams-Thompsons look like], and not a single PX employee or checkout clerk verified any part of this story whatever to investigators. >"In further interviews, the girl reported that 'Mr. Gary' had >driven her to a home off the Army base. There, she said, two >men dressed as women performed sexual acts on her and >photographed her. Inconveniently for Larry & Michele Adams-Thompson, it was later established that Gary Hambright was an epileptic who could not drive and had no car. Note again the later medical examination of Kinsey, which verified that she was a virgin with no signs whatever of any sexual abuse. >In the wake of the exposures, Aquino filed a $1 million >claim against the city San Francisco, naming Glen >Pamfiloff, an inspector with the SFPD's juvenile division, >and Officer Sandra Gallent, as participants in the raid on >his home. On the advice of my attorneys I dropped this claim and instead filed a complaint with the San Francisco Police Commission concerning both officers. After over a year's investigation, the SFPC upheld the complaint and filed a report with the San Francisco Police Chief accordingly. Not a single item of evidence of any crime whatever was found in our home during the surprise SFPD raid, and all items which were taken were later returned to us by the SFPD. >many other children, along with their parents, gave >statements. As reported in the _San Francisco Chronicle_ 8/2/88, at the time of the allegations: "26 other Presidio children were interviewed, and [said Deputy District Attorney Michael Williams] *none* could pick Michael Aquino out of a police photo lineup." Not a single other Presidio parent besides the Adams- Thompsons alleged anything whatever against my wife or myself. The attack upon us was exclusively the whim of Larry & Michele Adams-Thompson, to give them a creative excuse for their $3 million claims scam. >So how did the man at the center of all this controversy >escape prosecution? Because no crime whatever was committed by my wife or myself, and there was no evidence of any such crime. On the other hand, there was abundant evidence that the chaplain and his wife had fabricated their allegations in order to attempt their $3 million defrauding of the government. This was quietly swept under the official table, as the Army was not prepared to charge a Christian chaplain with crimes against a Satanist. >And how was it that more than 50 children could be molested >on a military base in a major American city without a single >conviction ever being won in the case ... Because, as detailed at the beginning of this email, all published evidence to date indicates that *not a single child was molested in the Presidio witch-hunt*. It was an $84 million claims enterprise. [That's a lot of money and a lot of motivation.] >Almost immediately from the day the story broke, the Army >took the position that Aquino's satanic practices were protected >by his First Amendment freedom of religion ... It was interesting >that the Army would take this position with regard to the top- >secret security clearance of a practicing Satanist, while >continuing to exclude gays from even its lowest rank and file >positions. Apples and oranges. Freedom of religion (*not* just *some* religions) is clearly, absolutely, and explicitly protected under the First Amendment. That Amendment makes no mention of sexuality one way or another. >"Aquino, a psychological warfare officer who has worked >in military intelligence, holds a top-secret security >clearance that allows him to handle information whose >release would 'gravely' damage U.S. security, >according to Defense Department regulations. This applies to anyone with a Top Secret security clearance. Quite obviously in my 26 years as an Army officer, I never compromised any classified information at all. Had I done so, I would certainly have been charged with *that*, no matter *what* my religion. >"He maintains the clearance even though he has performed >Nazi occult rites and has described himself as the 'Anti-Christ,' >in literature published by the Temple of Set." (Chronicle, >Nov. 3, 1987, p. A7). While I have researched Nazi occultism in the National Archives of the United States and scholarly sources available through any major university library, I have never performed or participated in any ceremony practiced in Nazi Germany. As the Temple of Set is an Egyptian religion which does not believe in Christian mythology, any allusion to myself as an "antichrist" would have been nothing more than a humorous lampoon on popular Christian superstitions, as was not at all uncommon in the 1960s-70s before the "Satanic hysteria" of the 1980s occurred. >A bid by Aquino to have court martial charges pressed >against the 3 year old girl's father--for making "false >allegations" against him--was unsuccessful. Actually I twice filed formal court-martial charges against Chaplain Larry Adams-Thompson for making false official statements and attempting to defraud the government of $3 million in false claims based upon them. Both times the charges were dismissed by his commander without the investigation required by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. >Aquino nonetheless vowed to press ahead with his case-- >"all the way to the White House," if necessary. No, I simply appealed the dismissals of the charges to the next higher headquarters (at the 3-star level), which also refused to investigate them. At that point it was obvious to me that the Army was simply not going to consider them, period. May I add, however, that I swore to both sets of charges personally and officially, and I was certainly never charged with false swearing in either instance. If you are interested in a free subscription to The Konformist Newswire, please visit: http://www.eGroups.com/list/konformist Or, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject: "I NEED 2 KONFORM!!!" (Okay, you can use something else, but it's a kool catch phrase.) Visit the Klub Konformist at Yahoo!: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/klubkonformist Your use of Yahoo! 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