NCJ Number
194948
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2002 Pages: 94-102
Date Published
2002
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article presents a review of the impact of retractions of allegations by victim witnesses in child sexual abuse cases.
Abstract
The author presents information on the motivations for and the effects of retractions of sexual abuse allegations by child victim-witnesses. Retractions may be genuine efforts to set the record straight or they may result from a the victim-witness’ desire to avoid the consequences (e.g., child protective services interventions, disruption of family life, cultural pressures) of truthful allegations. The author presents three blind case studies of retractions including the retraction of sexual abuse allegations by a stepdaughter on the eve of her stepfathers' criminal trial, the retraction of allegations made by a stepdaughter after the girl was removed from her home by child protective services, and the retraction of an apparent rape victim with learning disabilities who was exposed to cultural pressures regarding the maintenance of virginity. In each case, the author provides suggestions of methods that can be used to evaluate the authenticity of both the original allegation and the subsequent retraction. The author suggests that incidents of retraction should be fully investigated. In that regard he recommends two techniques, a videotaped Memorandum of Good Practice interview and a statement validity analysis. 11 references