How Not to Investigate CSA: Case Study, Berkshire County, MA

"Interviews should be taped:"
Studies show interviewer's notes are inaccurate, misleading, incomplete

More information on how not to interview young children (ORCT website)

About the Ritual Abuse Panic

About Recovered Memory

Timeline of the Ritual Abuse Panic

Links to more information

Transcripts of child interviews from the Kelly Michael case

Transcripts of child interviews from the McMartin case

Watch as an interviewer pressures a young girl into accusing Daniel Keller (YouTube video)

An influential 1983 article by Dr. Roland Summit led many well-meaning therapists to believe that if a child denied that abuse occurred, then the child was probably afraid to tell. But this ignores the possibility that the child was telling the truth that nothing happened.

Even today, Summit's "Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome" is being presented uncritically to the law enforcement community. The following quote is from the website of the American Prosecutors Research Institute:

The process by which children disclose abuse has been presented as a model entitled the “Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome.” According to this model, the victimization of a child is engulfed in secrecy. Because the child is often abused by an authority figure, she feels trapped and helpless. In dealing with the abuse, the child victim accommodates or accepts the relationship. When the child discloses the abuse, it is often an unconvincing disclosure. For example, a family conflict may trigger the abuse allowing the perpetrator to contend that his attempt to discipline the child resulted in a fabrication of abuse. Subjected to familial and societal pressure, the child typically recants the allegation of abuse. Indeed, Dr. Roland Summit concludes that “(u)nless there is special support for the child and immediate intervention to force responsibility on the father, the girl will follow the ‘normal’ course and retract her complaint.”

Author Richard Wexler explains what's wrong with interpreting a child's reluctance as a sign that the child is afraid to tell:

But not all, probably not even most, cases fit this pattern. When parents are divorced, for example, the mother is likely to support the child against the father.... The syndrome does not apply to cases where the accused is not a parent. The syndrome does not apply when the allegation is made only because of relentless pressure by interrogators. And the syndrome does not take into account cases that develop from honest misunderstandings, which can happen when a child confuses "good touch" with "bad touch" after a sexual-abuse-prevention presentation.

What can go wrong when children are interviewed?

Drs. Stephen Ceci and Maggie Bruck explain in Jeopardy in the Courtroom that a lot can go wrong -- with tragic consequences: (Examples in parentheses are taken from actual transcripts of child interviews)

• Ignoring some parts of a child's testimony while rewarding others -- the questioner ignores statements the child makes which don't fit the interviewers' theories, but reacts positively to statements which do fit the theory, ex. "you are so brave to tell me that."

• Repeated questions -- if a young child answers a question such as, "Did Johnny touch you?" with 'no' but the question is repeated and repeated, the child may answer 'yes' in an effort to please the questioner, to provide the "right" answer.

• Letting the child know how the interviewer feels about the alleged accuser -- (ex. "The police put her in jail. Because she was hurting you, you know. That's why I really need your help, especially you older kids, you 6-year-olds and kindergartners, because you can talk better than the little kids, and you can show things a little clearer on the dolls. And if you help us out we can take you on a little tour of the jail. And you will be helping to keep her in jail longer so that she doesn't hurt anybody else. Not to mention that you'll feel a lot better once you start.")

• Peer pressure -- ex. "All the other friends I talked to told me everything that happened. Randy told me. Connie told me...And now it's your turn to tell. You don't want to be left out, do you?"

• The questioner is a person in authority, such as a police officer, or a parent. Saying things to the child such as "It's okay to tell," reinforces the idea that the child must cooperate. Young children can be pressured into saying things that aren't true and can even come to believe that what they are saying is true. (ex. "Maybe it was true that Frank and Ileana were taking off their clothes and the children taking off their clothes and ... Frank and Ileana were touching the children in private places? Let's just pretend that maybe it was true.")
  

  'Extremely young and bewildered children were brought in and interrogated (sometimes for over an hour) by one, two and even three interviewers. These interviewers used the full array of suggestive techniques to elicit allegations of abuse. When the children denied they had been abused, they were bombarded with more suggestions, they were scolded, threatened and bribed. When some children whimpered, moaned or begged the interviewers to end the questioning, the interviewers continued.'
  

Excerpt from Dr. Maggie Bruck's analysis
of a British case of false accusation against two nurses

Don't Abandon the Presumption of Innocence
by David Weissbrod, Advocate for the Wrongfully Convicted

“I strongly object to the assertion that in matters of sexual abuse, "Children, especially preteens, do tell the truth . . . why would any child lie!" While I would never advocate that we ignore what children say about matters of abuse, I believe that we need to look at this issue in a more reasoned light.

Concerned and well-intentioned child advocates, mental health professionals, and law enforcement personnel were understandably inspired in their determination to save children from this heinous abuse. At first, these [advocates] succeeded in rescuing the issue of child sexual abuse from society's silence and denial. For this we can all be grateful.

But now, many years later, the continued blind allegiance to the catchy slogan and
pseudo-science that "kids don't lie" jeopardizes the credibility of our children and fosters a climate where false allegations are nurtured. Shall we keep shouting, "Kids don't lie," as we imprison innocent fathers, day care workers, school bus drivers, grandparents, and others?

Over the past decade, the research of Drs. Maggie Bruck, Stephen Ceci, and other social scientists have examined the effect of different variables on the testimony and recall of children. Repeated questioning, inadvertent or purposely suggestive interviewing techniques, guided imagery, and interviewer bias are some of the things that could influence a child into falsely reporting sexual abuse. Acrimonious divorces and bitter custody/visitation battles, where the non-custodial parent (usually the father) may be vilified, also provide a climate for false accusations.

Take what children say seriously, but please don't insist that the Earth is flat just because little Johnny says so or has been led to believe so. Generalizations, slogans, good intentions, and our understandable disgust towards people who sexually abuse children are not acceptable reasons for abandoning science and the presumption of innocence.”