It only benefits the cults involved to keep people in the dark about what cults do. And let’s be honest, the contention that Satanic ritual abuse of children is a 70’s and 80’s thing is a diversion. Satanic cults are all just variants of the old Baal worship cults which existed in ancient Israel. Those cults practiced child sacrifice. Ritual abuse of children in particular is central to Satanic philosophy. One less well-known group describes a ceremony involving the blood of a Christian child. It is an extreme expression of rejection of the God of the Bible - to corrupt and harm the youngest, most vulnerable, and most innocent among us. Crimes against children are simply more horrific, more of an abomination than consumption of human waste, cross-dressing, deviant sexual behavior, pornography and the drug trade, but they are just another “tool in the toolbox” for violent cult sociopaths.
Good friends of mine were significant figures in the world of Christian apologetics. They investigated satanism, satanic ritual abuse, ritual abuse, and anything related to it. Their contacts included FBI profilers, LAPD detectives, serious people who investigated crimes of this nature.
There were plenty of rumors but no one ever uncovered any organized ring or cult doing this. Pedophile rings involving prominent people were real enough, Hollywood being an example. Child sexual abuse happens constantly in the world of prostitution, usually young teenage runaways but also girls smuggled across the border.
What hasn’t been found is some kind of quasi-religious or pagan cult practicing ritual abuse. You might have to go back to Aleister Crowley or Anton LaVey to find something resembling a cult of this sort, but there’s no indication that anything they did involved abuse or criminal activity. You can find wannabe Wiccans and pagans playacting in the suburbs today, but this stuff is voluntary and isn’t criminal.
There’s always the possibility that a ritual abuse cult will turn up but so far this is the stuff of movies and novels, and a hucksters and crazies like Stratford and Warnke and Todd.
It’s worth investigating rumors like Pizzagate, but people need to be discerning and pay attention to what is actual evidence and what is speculation and dot-connecting.