Ritual crime authority speaks in Danville

Teenagers who like techno-rock music may sometimes be confused with teens fully into the “goth” look and music, Don Rimer pointed out to a group of 90 people who attended his “Ritual Crime & the Occult” seminar Wednesday in Danville.

The day-long seminar, hosted by Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services and the Danville Pittsylvania County Gang Prevention Coalition, showed attendees ways to recognize behaviors exhibited by teens being drawn into dangerous cults.

Rimer, an internationally recognized authority on the expanding youth sub-culture that embraces the occult, is a retired Virginia Beach police officer who now consults with agencies faced with bizarre ritual crimes. He also speaks to schools, churches, civic groups and professional organizations around the country, pointing out dangers teenagers face when they begin to dabble in the occult.

Rimer told the group there are many signs teens display that can warn parents their child is feeling disassociated from his or her peers and ripe for recruitment by an array of predators who call themselves vampires, Satanists or any number of other occult followers.

Parents need to listen to the lyrics of the groups their teens listen to, Rimer said. Techno-rock may be loud and irritating to older ears, but won’t be loaded with lyrics about death, suicide, crime, blood or self-mutilation, he said.

That music, Rimer said, is called “blood metal” or “death metal.” And, he said, since teens listen to about 11,000 hours of music from the time they are in seventh grade through 12th grade — and spent $15 billion last year on blood and death metal music, concerts and related material — those lyrics need to be monitored.

At special risk, Rimer said, are teens who don’t belong to sports teams, church groups and other organizations. They are the teens who are easy to lure to a dangerous group that promises them attention and a sense of belonging, he said.

Rimer’s talk was accompanied by often-graphic photos of self-inflicted wounds, crime scene photos and shots of him interviewing some of the self-professed vampires, werewolves and goth fairies.

Parents were encouraged to talk to their child’s school counselor or pastor if the teen exhibits any of the characteristics described.

Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services also has a 24-hour hotline at (434) 793-4922 that parents can call for advice, according to Jim Bebeau, director of Behavioral and Health Services.

“We are not experts yet,” Bebau said. “But we would do our best to help and refer them to other services” for answers to their questions.

Rimer also said he would answer any questions e-mailed to him at nodevils194@cox.net.

Contact Denice Thibodeau at dthibodeau@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7985.