A few towns over where I grew up there was a huge "Satanic cult with sexual abuse of children" scandal. Police officers were involved, a whole daycare, school employees and so on. It seemed that no kid was safe in Martensville. That the town was filled with devil worshipers who torture and abuse kids. Dozens of people were charged after a months long investigation, but only one got convicted, namely the son of the owner of the daycare. Those who weren't convicted lost their lives. Job gone, friends gone, family gone.

Then it turned out that it was made up. There was no Satanic cult. No one was involved in torturing small children. The kids were asked leading questions. They were rewarded when the investigators heard the right answer, but scolded when they didn't. People who were totally innocent lost everything. It was nothing more than a moral panic. Neighbours were pointing at each other, people would spread rumours, parents would teach their children to make false testimonies and so the scandal got bigger and bigger. The people who were wrongly accused sued the police for wrongful prosecution and they won. They got millions and were cleared of any wrongdoing, but in the end it didn't matter. People branded them as pedophiles and they do it to this day.