Rabbit Hole: A Satanic Ritual Abuse Survivor's Story

Rabbit Hole: A Satanic Ritual Abuse Survivor's Story is a memoir by author David Shurter about his personal experience as a victim of abuse at the hands of powerful people, including his parents, in Omaha in the 1980s. David's parents and many other prominent members of the community were part of a Satanic cult that organized and condoned a number of shocking, illegal activities – most notably child sexual abuse, a pedophile ring, and unsolved child murders and kidnappings. Shurter's memoir goes into his own experience within this community, and he writes about how the cult's behavior was condoned and covered up by those in power.

The memoir begins with an overview of David’s family – particularly his father, who was a drunk, abusive, and a leading member of an infamous cult practicing in Omaha, Nebraska in the 1960s and 1970s. David writes about the trauma of his childhood, and the ways that his parents, both violent alcoholics, engaged in behavior that put him and his older siblings in danger. David also reveals his intentions for the work – to investigate the crimes his father and his friends committed in the name of Satan, and also to help expunge himself of old wounds, many of which hid deep in his subconscious until he entered psychotherapy as an older adult.

The cult which David's father was a part of was eventually exposed during the “Satanic panic” in the 1980s, a trend in investigative journalism and media coverage in which Satanic groups were called out for the crimes they committed – and, more often than not, covered up. David and his older siblings, along with dozens of other children, were the victims of Satanic Ritual Abuse, also known as SRA. The cult that David's father helped lead was responsible for hundreds of counts of childhood sexual abuse, violence against children, and trafficking of children for sex in Omaha in the 1960s, 1970s, and into the 1980s.



David's father's cult was affiliated with the local bank Franklin Credit Union, run by a group of rich men who ran the institution into the ground after it was revealed they had spent nearly $40 million maintaining a pedophile ring in Omaha. The bank closed in the 1980s, and with it went a huge number of secrets that David investigates in his book, in order to bring closure to other victims and find some semblance of justice.

David writes in detail about the violence of his father, particularly when he was drinking. He also writes about how his father, serving as a high priest, watched over rituals that involved the sexual assault of his own children. David's parents were part of orgies that included children, and other atrocities, eventually, even selling David and his siblings for sex in the pedophile ring that lead to the closure of Franklin Credit Union. David goes into these subjects in detail, illuminating the atrocities committed by his father, who died before he could be brought to justice for what he had done.

David's struggle to come to terms with his own trauma has been a life-long endeavor. He went to therapy for chronic nightmares, which he realized, after many months, were recollections of the violence he witnessed and experienced as a boy. From there, David began to dive deeper into his own memory, for the sake of his own healing, and for other Omaha children who may be living in silence with the same kinds of trauma.



A victim of SRA, David Shurter is an advocate for child victims of sexual violence and human trafficking. He wrote Rabbit Hole as both a memoir and work of investigative journalism, in an attempt to uncover the truth behind the Franklin Credit Union scandal and Satanism in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Shurter is also an advocate of those with severe PTSD, writing about his experience healing from severe childhood trauma. He is also the editor of Banquets for the Soul.