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False Allegations of Sexual Abuse
If you are like most members of society and judges you would not want custody of a child to be placed with someone who has sexually molested that child. It is no surprise then that in contentious custody proceedings that alegations of sexual molestation are made and custody awarded considering the allegation. This section seeks to provide information about false allegations and how to combat them.
Personality Characteristics of Parents Making False Accusations of Sexual abuse in Custody Disputes by Hollida Wakefield & Ralph Underwager
Following is an excerpt from this article which may be accessed here. Hollida Wakefield and Ralph Underwager are psychologists at the Institute for Psychological Therapies, 5263 130th Street East, Northfield, MN 55057-4880. This research was presented at the Sixth Annual Symposium in Forensic Psychology in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 13, 1990, at the Second Annual Convention of the American Psychological Society in Dallas, Texas, on June 9, 1990, and at the 98th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 14, 1990. Although this information has aged almost 20 years since it was first presented, little has been done to reduce the rate of false allegations in family law courts.
There is not agreement as to how many of these cases turn out to be false, although most of the estimates range from one-third to four-fifths. Thoennes and her colleagues report that in 33% of the cases in their survey, no abuse was believed to have occurred. Abuse was believed likely in 50% and in 17% no determination could be reached (Thoennes & Pearson 1988a & b; Thoennes & Tjaden, 1990). However, the decision as to whether the abuse was factual was made by custody evaluators and child protection workers rather than by the justice system.
Most professionals believe that the proportion of false allegations of child sexual abuse is highest in divorce and custody disputes. Out of approximately 500 cases in which we have provided expert consultation in the past six years involving sexual abuse accusations, 40% were divorce and custody cases. Of these divorce and custody cases that have been adjudicated, for three-fourths there was no determination of abuse by the legal system. That is, charges were dropped or never filed or the person was acquitted in criminal court, or there was no finding of abuse in family court.
Dwyer (1986) reports similar statistics. She states that 77% of the divorce-linked allegations of sex abuse cases coming to the Human Sexuality Program at the University of Minnesota have turned out to be "hoax" cases. This was based upon the opinion reached by the agency staff that the allegations were not accurate.
In our experience, accusations of sexual abuse occur in a bitter and acrimonious divorce at all stages of the process. Benedek and Schetky (1985a) report that they were especially common in disputes about child custody that arise after a divorce has been granted and center around issues of visitation.
Protective Orders
False allegations of sexual abuse are often made in concert with false allegations of Domestic Violence. This is done under the theory of as long as one is going to lie then they should be as fantastic and broad as possible in that the confirmation of one leads to the assumption of the others.
Watch the video clips below to see just how easy it is to make false allegations and get the assistance of police without a hearing ever being conducted. The 'victim' is indignant at the finding that she made a false allegation and proclaimed that it was the right thing to do.
Judge Judy berates a young woman and found that the woman made a false allegation of DV, by her own admission. The woman proclaimed “I don't know what I did wrong” “I did everything right” and actually called Judge Judy “crazy”.
This article examines that indiscriminate issuance of restraining orders and the damaging effect it has on people's lives.
These papers relating to Domestic Violence have been reproduced in pdf format for easy copying or sharing. Just click on the document title for viewing.
This article by David Heleniak examines the abuses of civil liberties, due process violations perpetrated by judges in the knowing issuance of false DV restraining orders and other punishments.
Wendy Mclroy examines the proliferation of false rape allegations, how men accused are rape are perceived as victims and how this is damaging to women who have actually been raped.
PATIENTS WHO MAKE FALSE ALLEGATIONS
by Dr Richard Hall
Following is an excerpt from this article which may be accessed here. Dr. Hall maintains a private practice in psychiatry and forensic psychiatry in Lake Mary, Florida. He is also a Courtesy Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Florida, College of Medicine Gainesville, Florida.
The concepts of "where there's smoke, there's fire" and there has to be "at least a grain of truth" in every allegation are often evoked to further justify elaborate and extensive investigations, which can place the accused in the unfortunate and impossible position of trying to disprove a negative. As Chairman of a state Ethics Committee, we have reviewed many allegations that are patently preposterous. There is rarely difficulty in dealing with complaints of abductions by aliens or physicians employed by the KGB. Conversely, investigative, feminist, and religious passions are regularly raised by any hint that a healthcare provider has been sexually, interpersonally, or socially inappropriate with a patient. Charges of child abuse, incest and sexual misconduct by police are other allegations that psychiatrists are frequently called upon to evaluate. Several authors have reviewed specific types of false complaints.
In an interesting letter written to Robert Wallace's Talking With Teens column, a teenager wrote "Dear Dr. Wallace: I need your advice -- and make it fast. My best friend hates her stepfather. About a month ago, she told me she was going to tell the police that he molested her sexually even though it wasn't true. Well, last week she did just that and has caused a big stink. Her stepfather had to hire a lawyer to defend himself even though he was 100% innocent. He was also tossed out of their house by my friend's mom. The main reason she hates her stepfather is that he made her break up with her 19-year-old boyfriend. My friend is 14. The only people who know that this man is innocent is my friend, her boyfriend, who also hates him, and me. So that means I am the only one who can save him. What should I do? I really don't want to lose my best friend, and if I speak the truth, I know that she will never talk to me again." Dr. Wallace advised the teen to talk to her parents and let them know that her best friend was lying and that the stepfather never molested her. He suggested that her parents then talk to the mother and contact the police. This case illustrates revenge as a motive for making a false allegation.
The McMartin preschool trial was a day care sexual abuse case of the 1980s. Members of the McMartin family, who operated a preschool in California, were charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of children in their care. Accusations were made in 1983. Arrests and the pretrial investigation ran from 1984 to 1987, and the trial ran from 1987 to 1990. After six years of criminal trials, no convictions were obtained, and all charges were dropped in 1990. It was the longest and most expensive criminal trial of its time, and is believed to have contributed to satanic ritual abuse, a moral panic of the 1980s and 1990s.
