Satanic ritual, involving the repeat assaults of two girls, aged 7 and 9, during a seven day sexually disturbing marathon, was the accusation. The women accused were Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera Kristie Mayhugh and Anna Vasquez, or better known as the "San Antonio Four." The four, all admitted lesbians, were targeted because of that fact. In 1994, when this event allegedly transpired, these women were arrested, found guilty and sentenced: Ramirez received 35 years -the two young girls were her nieces, and the other three women received 15 years each in prison.

Over a decade of demanding advocates seeking attention from the press and insisting that they were innocent, the women are now finally free. Darrell Otto, a Canadian college instructor, further investigated the case by contacting the National Center for Reason and Justice that pushed for the release of the four women, who they believed were innocent and wrongly accused of the crimes. 

Last month, it was discovered that the witness testimony used to convict Ramirez was discredited, and a judge ordered the release of the women under a bond, though, one woman, Vazquez, was already out on parole.

The women expressed joy and a sense of victory at the news. Vasquez, as well, who would be relieved of the oppressive and restrictive circumstance of being on parole, and having to remain 500 feet from schools, churches, playgrounds, or wherever children might gather. Though, the decision doesn't affect her immediately. Vazquez and the other women look forward to the day when the conviction will be over-turned, and they can stop being labeled sexual offenders.

Anti-homosexual sentiment snared the four women.  During the time of conviction, being openly homosexual was far less accepted then than is today; and was deemed perverse and sickening, Lesbians and gays were often thought to be synonymous with molesters, Homophobic stereotypes were taken as evidence, as well as wild assumptions from medical professionals.

"I think that if these kinds of preposterous accusations had been made against four Junior League women, the investigation would never have been taken seriously," said Mike Ware, defense attorney for the four, who was confident that their sexual orientation influenced the outcome of their trial. "But I think because they came out as openly gay, the investigator and people down the line said, 'If they're gay, anything's possible. They're not like us.'"

Phillip Kazen, the prosecutor arguing against Ramirez, was reported to have told jurors that Ramirez's sexual orientation was "only important in the sense that the activity is generally consistent with the activity alleged in the indictment."

Ramirez's nieces' testimonies were the foundation of the arrests and trials. The two girls claimed that the women invited them over for marijuana and drink; and, that they were pinned own and violated with foreign objects. In 2012, one of the nieces retracted her statement, saying that the event never took place. And, the pediatrician who testified during the trail, Dr. Nancy Kellogg, changed her mention of noticeable scarring on the genitals of the two girls, to admitting that she couldn't state with "any degree of medical certainty" that the two young girls were assaulted. With her advance medical knowledge, it was also Kellogg who claimed during the trail that the alleged attacks were "Satanic-related."

LGBT community members and others join in the celebration of the women's release. Their innocence and forced incarceration mirrors a number of other LGBT members who've suffered similar injustices, and continue to be jailed.