There is belief among some that the desecration of churches and cemeteries, thefts of churches' sacred items, vandalism and arson of church property, animal sacrifice and mutilation, and various indignities done to the dead can be attributed to persons committed to and motivated by occult or satanic beliefs. The extent to which this belief is correct is not easy to gauge from the relatively small number of prosecutions. Of the prosecutions cited in this paper, only a few are suggestive of anything more sinister than library book dabbling, legend-tripping, intoxication, adolescent misbehavior, and varying degrees of psychological instability. Besides church desecration, the criminal activity most often associated with devil worshippers is ritual animal sacrifice. Historically, animal sacrifice was usually intended as an antidote to witchcraft. As with church desecration, bona fide instances of occultist animal sacrifice are notoriously difficult to verify, and often prove to be hoaxes. Indeed, the phenomenon of livestock mutilation has a long history, and in the United States during the 1970s was often attributed to extraterrestrial visitation. Thus, it is fair to conclude that although there may be such a thing as ritual animal sacrifice, it is difficult to credit many modern reports. 37 references