Editing Michael A. Aquino (section)

== Child molestation allegations ==
Concurrent with the United States [[Satanic panic]],{{sfn|Gardell|2003|pp=290, 389–390}}<ref name=":0" /> in November 1986, the San Francisco Police began investigating allegations of sexual abuse in connection with the Army's Child Development Center at the Presidio of San Francisco. A girl came forward in August 1987 and identified Aquino as the culprit. At least 58 out of 100 children who had attended the daycare center showed physical and mental signs of sexual abuse, leading to a lawsuit by the parents for $60 million in damages.<ref name="San Francisco Chronicle-1987" /><ref name="San Jose Mercury News-1987" />{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=390}} An investigation against Aquino was launched, but it was closed after insufficient evidence was found.<ref>{{cite news |access-date=2024-09-10 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US |title=The State |date=August 4, 1988 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-04-mn-10261-story.html}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=390}}<ref name=":0" /> The investigation led to Aquino becoming a frequent target of conspiracy theories.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=290}}

Writer and publisher [[Mitch Horowitz]] said that investigators found that in the weeks of the claimed incident the Aquinos were not residing in San Francisco but instead in [[Washington, D.C.]], where Aquino was enrolled in a graduate [[public administration]] program under the auspices of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Although no charges were filed, a continuation board ended Aquino's full-time Active Guard Reserve contract in 1990; while Aquino said that he continued to serve as a decorated (by virtue of his Meritorious Service Medal) part-time space activities officer until his required superannuation under the U.S. Army's up-or-out statutes in 1994, this decision essentially forestalled any subsequent promotion or advancement of his military career. "The Aquinos", Horowitz wrote, "unsuccessfully attempted legal action against the girl's chaplain father and an Army psychiatrist who stoked the false claims. But the couple faced the barrier of gravitating between civilian and military law". Horowitz further wrote that Aquino and wife settled legal actions against two accusatory books out of court.{{sfn|Horowitz|2023|pp=380–381}}

Aquino sued as the result of two books that implied he was guilty in the case: ''[[Painted Black (book)|Painted Black]]'' by [[Carl Raschke]] and ''The New Satanists'' by Linda Blood. Blood was a former member of the Temple of Set; Aquino alleged the book defamed him and the Temple of Set.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=203}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenfeld |first=Seth |date=1994-10-29 |title=S.F. temple, couple in 'New Satanists' sue author for libel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-sf-temple/182747101/ |access-date=2025-11-02 |work=[[San Francisco Examiner]] |pages=A-2 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issn=2574-593X}}</ref> The case was settled out of court.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=203}}