Laurel Rose Willson
(August 18 1941 –
8 April 2002) was an
American
woman born
in Washington
, whose allegations of satanic ritual abuse were published
under the alias Lauren Stratford, which she would
later adopt as her legal name. She still later assumed the
guise of a
Holocaust survivor, and
adopted the alias of
Laura Grabowski.
Willson was
adopted as an infant by Frank
Cole Willson and his wife, schoolteacher Rose Gray Willson. A
gifted musician from a young age, Willson learned to play the
piano,
clarinet, and
flute. After college, Willson worked as a
public school music teacher.
She later resided in Bakersfield,
California
for a number of years, becoming known within
evangelical Christian churches there
as a vocalist and pianist.
Satanic ritual abuse allegations
As Stratford, Willson wrote three books, the most famous of which
was
Satan's Underground, purporting to tell a true story
of her upbringing as a baby breeder (for sacrifices) in a
Satanic cult. Willson had also claimed
to have first-hand knowledge of high-profile cases of alleged
Satanic ritual abuse (including the
Kern County child abuse cases,
where she resided), but her claims were dismissed by investigators
as unreliable and fabricated.
An investigation by the
Christian
magazine
Cornerstone
discovered Stratford's real name and family background, and that
her stories of abuse were false. In interviews with Willson's
family and former associates, it was revealed that Willson had a
long history of
mental illness and
making false allegations of abuse. She repeatedly threatened
suicide and practiced
self-mutilation. In addition, she claimed to
have given birth to three children as a result of
rape; two were allegedly killed in
snuff films, and the third was supposedly
sacrificed in her presence at a
Satanic ritual. However,
Cornerstone found no evidence
that she had ever been pregnant or adopted a child.
False identity as a holocaust survivor
After her books were withdrawn from sale by her publisher, Willson
legally changed her name to Lauren Stratford. She would later
create another false identity with a horrific story to tell.
Pretending
to be Laura Grabowski, a Jewish survivor of
Auschwitz-Birkenau
, Willson collected thousands of dollars in
donations intended for Holocaust survivors. As Grabowski,
Willson befriended
Binjamin
Wilkomirski, claiming to remember him from the camps.
Wilkomirski himself (real name Bruno Grosjean) was later revealed
to be neither Jewish nor a Holocaust survivor, aiding in the
exposure of Willson as a fraud.
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