the satanic panic was spurred by a very real conspiracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Finders_(movement)

Of course, you get utterly depraved individuals who do absolutely atrocious things, e.g. cannibalism. You might get a dozen of them over the decades. And cults that can be nasty and do terrible things.

But the moral panic is where we see it everywhere, in the thousands, when it isn't. It's like a form of mass paranoia. And it's harmful not just because of the innocent people falsely accused, but that people were not letting their children out to play, out of fear of predators, which likely damages their development somewhat.