[2] Cheit argues that some of those accused in alleged day-care sex-abuse hysteria cases, including the Country Walk case, the McMartin preschool trial,[3][dubious – discuss][4] and the Oak Hill satanic ritual abuse trial, were actually guilty.

[5][6][7] (The district attorney declared the Oak Hill defendants "actually innocent",[8] so they were compensated for their imprisonment.

[9]) James M. Wood, Debbie Nathan, Richard Beck, and Keith Hampton criticize that Cheit's work "has omitted or mischaracterized important facts or ignored relevant scientific information" and "is often factually inaccurate and tends to make strong assertions without integrating relevant scholarly and scientific information.

"[11] Cheit graduated from Williams College (1977, political economy and a coordinate major in environmental studies) before earning a Juris Doctor degree and PhD in public policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Before working for Duane, Lyman, and Seltzer, Cheit clerked for Justice Hans Linde of the Oregon Supreme Court.