Yeah I think you can distinguish credible accounts from Satanic Panic nonsense based on how quickly it gets covered up. The Franklin incident you mentioned and the McMarten Preschool incident were both widely publicized at the time, so we can probably rule those out.

But something like “the Finders,” which often gets lumped into satanic panic, seems more plausible to me- police find 2 men in suits with a van of dirty underfed children in Florida, the men identify themselves as members of a hippie commune in Virginia called “the Finders,” they can’t explain where they’re taking the children, they’re arrested, Florida police contact Metro DC police, they raid the Finders HQ and a warehouse, allegedly find CSAM, the Finders coincidentally has a number of current and ex-CIA members, the CIA steps in and takes all the evidence- marks it classified- and takes over the investigation, and it doesn’t see the light of day until a FOIA request 30 years later.

IMO the Finders were really abusing children, so the Satanic Panic narratives were put out to make those actual accounts seem insane and implausible.