Napolis originally worked as a child protection worker for nearly 10 years (leaving the position in 1996), becoming involved in the satanic ritual abuse (SRA) moral panic that arose in the early 1980s.
Among those she targeted were Carol Hopkins, a school administrator who was part of a grand jury in San Diego, California that criticized social workers for removing children from their home without reason; Michael Aquino, a member of the Temple of Set and a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve against whom accusations of SRA were made but dropped as the accusations proved to be impossible;[7] and Elizabeth Loftus, a professor who studied memory who believed coercive questioning techniques by poorly trained investigators led to young children making false allegations of child sexual abuse.
[8] Loftus was confronted at a New Zealand academic conference by a group of people who accused her of conspiring to help child molesters, with information consisting largely of the postings made by Napolis.
[10] Using public computers in internet cafes and libraries, Napolis concealed her identity for five years while continuing to post information online about those she believed were involved in the conspiracy.
In 2000, private researcher Michelle Devereaux and the San Diego State University police tracked Napolis and caught her in the act of posting information as Curio online from a campus lab.
[6] In December 2002, Napolis was arrested for stalking and making death threats against Hewitt, charged with six felonies,[8] and remanded to San Diego County Jail on $500,000 bail.