CHILD: False Child Abuse Allegations

Child, Child abuse, Child Interview, confessions, evaluation, false allegations, Memory, paraphilia, Sex Offense, trial, victim

False Child Abuse Allegations

The following is a compilation of research available regarding false child abuse claims:

False Allegations in Sexual Abuse:
One study of 410 children referred for suspected child sexual abuse, 197 (48%) were actually abused, 63 (15%) were determined to be false allegations, Watkeys and Anthony (1991)

Another study of 576 child sexual abuse allegations made to the Denver Department of Social Services found that 3% were unreliable accounts and 8% were purely fictitious. Clinical features relevant to the fictitious accounts included: lack of emotion and an absence of coercion and threat in the recount, Jones and McGraw (1987)

Another study of 34 allegations of rape published in the 1979 Police Surgeon Journal noted 15 were genuine rape victims, 3 probably genuine, 6 probably false, and 10 definitely false with the victim’s ages ranging from 13 – 60 and false allegations including covering up problems (such as teenagers staying out late), the false rape victims usually reported with considerable delay, had no genital injuries in contrast to the genuine victims, were also generally calm in demeanor, Maclean 1979

Child False Abuse Allegations
Simon B Miranda, Licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in Child Sexual Abuse reports that some powerful negative motive usually underlies the birth of a false sex abuse allegation, and often questionable (however pro-socially clothed) motives energize its flow through the governmental systems. At the entry point of a false allegation one almost always finds a parent who has questioned a child in indeterminate ways and often also exposed the child to powerful emotional messages.

This parent will then pass that exchange through her/his personal psychological filter (beliefs, memories, attitudes, resentments, fears) before delivering this filtered information to a law enforcement professional. This professional has the unique opportunity of detecting the false or doubtful nature of the allegations and stopping them. Unfortunately, too often this person also has the power to give the allegation life and elevate it to an official status. (her father)

How common are false allegations of child abuse? (Not specific to sexual abuse claims)
A false allegation is one in which an “unsubstantiated investigation disposition that indicates a conclusion that the person who made the allegation of maltreatment knew that the allegation was not true”.¹

2.98 million American children underwent a Child Protective Services investigation (or alternative CPS response) for an allegation of child abuse or neglect in 2010. One-fifth of the claims met the legal requirements of abuse.² In the other four-fifths of the claims, the investigation determined that there was not sufficient evidence under state law to conclude or suspect that the child was maltreated or at-risk of being maltreated.³

An estimated 2-10% of all child abuse claims are believed to be false.^4,5,6,7 Using a conservative 5% false allegation figure, nearly 150,000 children are involved in a false child abuse claim each year.⁸ During child-custody disputes, false allegation rates as high as 36-55% have been reported.^9,10,11

What factors contribute to false allegations of child abuse?

Lack of presumption of innocence: According to the National Child Abuse Defense and Resource Center, in “alleged physical abuse cases, there is seldom a search for an ‘equally competing hypothesis’ for causation of any injuries. In most cases, the presumption is made that the injurie(s) were non-accidental and therefore must have been inflicted by someone.”¹²
Overly broad definitions: Each state has its own legal definition of child abuse that often includes vague terms like being “at-risk” for “emotional” abuse. In California, “family problems” can meet the statutory definition of abuse and neglect. In Utah, a child’s mere knowledge (not witnessing) of domestic violence by a parent is classified as abuse.¹³
Low standards of proof: Thirty-two states use the weakest “preponderance of evidence” standard: AL, AK, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, GA, ID, IA, KY, ME, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NC, ND, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, WI, and WY. Only two states employ the strong “clear and convincing” standard: KS and PA.¹³
Lack of accountability: The procedures of Child and Protective Service agencies and administrative law judges are not subject to external review, and their decisions difficult to appeal.

Exonerations

Over the past two decades, 102 persons who had been convicted for child sex abuse were later exonerated (NRE Report, Table 1).
Of these 102 persons: 75% had been convicted based on a false accusation or perjury (NRE Report, Table 15).
In two-thirds of these cases, the alleged crime had been fabricated (NRE Report, Table 15).
37 had been given life sentences.
Conclusion: “Many judges, prosecutors, and child welfare agencies are skeptical of accusations of child sex abuse in custody battles, for obvious reasons.” (NRE Report, p. 78)

References

Administration for Children and Families. Child Maltreatment 2010. Washington DC. Department of Health and Human Services. Page 6. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm10/index.htm
Administration for Children and Families. Child Maltreatment 2010. Washington DC. Department of Health and Human Services. Table 3-2. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm10/index.htm
Administration for Children and Families. Child Maltreatment 2010. Washington DC. Department of Health and Human Services. Pages 7-8. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm10/index.htm
Ney T. True and False Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse: Assessment and Case Management. Psychology Press. pp. 23–33. 1995.
Hobbs CJ, Hanks HGI, Wynne JM. Child Abuse and Neglect: A Clinician’s Handbook. Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 197. 1999.
Schetky DH; Green AH. Child Sexual Abuse: A Handbook for Health Care and Legal Professionals. Psychology Press. pp. 105. 1988.
Bolen RM. Child Sexual Abuse: Its Scope and Our Failure. Springer. pp. 109. 2001.
2,987,515 children x 0.05 = 149,375
Robin M. Assessing Child Maltreatment Reports: The Problem of False Allegations. Haworth Press. pp. 21–24. 1991.
Mikkelsen EJ, Gutheil TG, Emens M. False Sexual-Abuse Allegations by Children and Adolescents: Contextual Factors and Clinical Subtypes. American Journal of Psychotherpay. Vol. 46, 1992.
Trocme N, Bala N. False allegations of abuse and neglect when parents separate. Child Abuse and Neglect, Vol. 29, 2005. p. 1341.
National Child Abuse Defense and Resource Center. http://www.falseallegation.org/ . Accessed May 20, 2012.
Administration for Children and Families. Child Maltreatment 2010. Washington DC. Department of Health and Human Services. Appendix D. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm10/index

Research on False Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse

False allegations of child sexual abuse: Implications for policy and practice.
Robin, Michael.
The state as parent: International research perspectives on interventions with young persons. Hudson, Joe, (Ed); Galaway, Burt, (Ed); pp. 263-280; New York, NY, US: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers; 1989.
Abstract:
Reviews available data on false allegations of sexual abuse / the manner in which cases are investigated is reviewed and future research topics are suggested defining false allegations / defining child sexual abuse / unfounded reports / studies of false allegations / childsexual abuse investigations / impact of bias / when a childdenies being abused / credibility of children / assessing allegations / behavioral and emotional indicators / when a child retracts an allegation / anatomically correct dolls

Child abuse and neglect reports in foster care: The issue for foster families of false allegations.
Carbino, Rosemarie.
Child & Youth Services, Vol 15(2), 1991. pp. 233-247.
Abstract:
Possible reasons for the reporting of childmaltreatment (MAL) when no MAL occurred include reporting standards, reporter misjudgment, deliberate ‘false’ reporting, and the need for humane services. Foster parent beliefs, experiences, and needs are reviewed in relation to how agencies respond when abuse is alleged. To ease the damaging effects of responses to MAL reports, services, support, and resources should be provided to all reported foster families (FFs). Four areas of positive change are recommended: (1) awareness of the traumatic impact on FFs of some agency responses to MAL allegations; (2) agency policy on dealing with reported FFs; (3) information provided to FFs; and (4) agency response to MAL reports, going well beyond investigation.

The social construction of child abuse and ‘false allegations.’
Robin, Michael. U Minnesota School of Social Work, Minneapolis, US
Child & Youth Services, Vol 15(2), 1991. pp. 1-34.
Abstract:
Traces the evolution and development of child abuse and neglect as a serious social problem and examines how it has been brought to public attention. The content of the claims that have been made about the problem and the practical and political implications of how the problem has been socially constructed are examined. How approaches to the problem of child abuse and neglect have led, in the mid 1980s, to the development of ‘false allegations’ (FAs) as a serious social problem is also examined. The indifference of the professional community when FAs happen is significant. The injustice of FAs is based not only on the immediate circumstances of theproblem but also on the unwillingness of the professional community to acknowledge the phenomenon and to take the necessary steps to prevent and/or ameliorate its negative consequences.

A case study of child sexual false allegation.
Hershkowitz, Irit.
Child Abuse & Neglect, Vol 25(10), Oct, 2001. pp. 1397-1411.
Abstract:
Follows the path by which a naive suggestion made in the course of a mother-daughter conversation was transformed into an allegation of severe sexual abuse. In addition, this article analyzes the 10-yr-old’s interview scientifically and explores the limitations of scientific tools for detecting implausible allegations. Independent case facts were collected and analyzed to determine whether the event described by the child was likely to have happened. The credibility of the child’s account was assessed using Criterion-Based Content Analysis and the information provided in both the ‘implausible’ and ‘corrected’ statements was compared to quantify the fabricated details in the implausible statement. The event described by the child was ‘very unlikely to have happened’ but the credibility assessment failed to detect its implausibility. Comparison of the 2 statements revealed that the child did fabricate central details but incorporated them into a description of an event she really experienced, and most of the information provided was truthful. The pressure to conform to suggestions can be irresistible, inducing some children to make false allegations of sexual abuse. Scientific tools designed for credibility assessment are limited and may fail to detect implausible statements.

False sexual–abuse allegations by children and adolescents: Contextual factors and clinical subtypes.
Mikkelsen, Edwin J., Gutheil, Thomas G., Emens, Margaret
American Journal of Psychotherapy, Vol 46(4), Oct, 1992. Boundaries, behavior, and sexual misconduct: Current issues and the medicolegal interface. pp. 556-570.
Abstract:
Develops, based on a review of the empirical literature, a typology of false allegations of sexual abuse against children. The specific subtypes described are false allegations (1) arising out of custody disputes, (2) stemming from accusers’ psychological disturbances, (3) resulting from conscious manipulation, and (4) being caused by iatrogenic elements. Clinical examples are presented.

(Text included below)

FALSE SEXUAL-ABUSE ALLEGATIONS BY CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS:
CONTEXTUAL FACTORS AND CLINICAL SUBTYPES

The authors present a typology of false allegations of sexual abuse against children that is derived from the literature and their clinical experience. The specific subtypes described are false allegations (1) arising out of custody disputes, (2) stemming from accusers’ psychological disturbances, (3) resulting from conscious manipulation, (4) being caused by iatrogenic elements.

INTRODUCTION
The determination of the validity of a child’s or adolescent’s allegation of sexual abuse is one of the most difficult clinical questions that mental health professionals are confronted with. Despite the fact that many studies now indicate that a certain percentage of these allegations are false, large numbers of clinicians respond to the enormous complexities of these cases by resorting to oversimplified generalizations such as “children never lie.” This type of response renders the decision-making process uncomplicated, but can also yield numerous false positives as this logic virtually precludes the existence of false allegations. In this manuscript we will review the literature concerning false allegations and will present a typology of their clinical subtypes to aid in the detection and clinical understanding of false allegations of sexual abuse, as well as in future research in the area.

FREQUENCY OF FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE BY ADOLESCENTS AND CHILDREN
A recent review of the literature concerning systematic research into the frequency of false allegations of sexual abuse^[1]revealed rates ranging from two to eight percent of referrals to child abuse clinics,^[2-4] six percent of emergency room referrals^[5] and substantially higher rates of 36.4% ^[6] to 55.5% ^[7] for the special circumstance of allegations arising out of the context of custody disputes. These articles are summarized in Table I.

In a large retrospective review involving all 576 complaints of sexual abuse made to the Denver, Colorado, Department of Social Services in 1983, Jones and McGraw ^[8] utilized the innovative strategy of breaking away from a strict Yes/No dichotomy and put forward four categories that capture the ambiguity of many of these situations. Their four categories and the frequency of each are as follows: confirmed–53%; suspicious but not conclusive–17%; insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion–24%; and, definite false allegations–2%.

An important variable that has been analyzed in this research is the age of the child as it relates to the frequency of false allegations. This research as summarized by Everson and Boat ^[1] indicates that the relative frequencies for different age groups is as follows [N for each group indicated in ()]: 1 to 2.9 years of age (N = 124) 6%; 3 to 5.9 years of age (N = 301) 7%; 6 to 11.9 years of age (N = 414) 4.3%; and 12 to 17.9 years of age (N = 410) 8.0%. Thus, it would appear that the risk of an allegation being false is greater with older children.

CLINICAL ASPECTS OF FALSE ALLEGATIONS
While the research cited above is of use in ascertaining anticipated rates of false allegations the studies do not provide a great deal of clinical detail other than to indicate that one’s suspicion should be heightened in cases where the allegation arises out of a custody dispute and that older children have higher rates of false allegations. This lack of clinical detail is not a specific shortcoming of the studies per se, but rather is reflective of their goal to determine overall frequencies of false allegations. More clinical detail is presented in the case-report literature which provides clinical descriptions of the reported cases. While these reports do not have the statistical significance of the studies previously mentioned they do provide more detail concerning the context and circumstances which surround false allegations. A summary of reported cases of false allegations made by children and adolescents is presented in Table II. ^{[1,6,9,10-12]} We have attempted to locate and summarize as many of these reports as possible, but do not claim that this listing includes every report which has ever been published. We have also excluded those cases that did not appear to have a firm basis for concluding that the allegation was false as opposed to inconclusive.

The reported cases continue the theme elaborated in the empirical research that allegations arising out of custody disputes are more suspect. However, the case reports also extend the range of contextual factors to be considered by highlighting the importance of the psychological stability of the reporting individual be it the child or an involved adult, and manipulation on the part of the child to obtain a specific result.

A TYPOLOGY OF SUBTYPES OF FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE BY CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
Our own clinical research into this phenomenon coupled with the literature reviewed has led to the formulation of a typology of subtypes of false allegations that can alert the clinician to contextual factors that should at least heighten concern and which might otherwise go undetected. Our findings suggest that these factors are not usually found in pure culture (although pure forms of each do exist). We will present the major subtypes below accompanied by a brief description of each with references to similar cases in the table. Following these we will present other more complex cases that represent aspects of more than one clinical subtype. All cases described in detail or by brief vignettes have either been reported in the literature, are a matter of public record, have been approved by the individuals involved or have been altered in a minor manner that would be sufficient to avoid identification.

SUBTYPE I: FALSE ALLEGATION IN THE CONTEXT OF CUSTODY DISPUTE

As noted above this would appear to be the most frequent type of false allegation based both on the empirical and case-report literature. This type of allegation is a conscious manipulation on the part of one parent or caregiver to obtain custody of children from another parent or caregiver often as a countermeasure to damning allegations (e.g. physical abuse against the main caretaker). In its purest form this would entail a parent or relative seeking custody who consciously sets out and plots to coerce a child into alleging sexual abuse at the hands of the target parent or caregiver. In these instances the description of the abuse may be more sophisticated than the child would be expected to have at their developmental level.

Example: The mother of a mentally retarded eleven-year-old boy is in a comatose state as the result of an auto accident. The large monetary settlement has been placed in trust for the boy under control of the maternal grandparents. The boy’s biological father maintains custody but, in fact, the boy spends much of his time with the grandparents. The father commences legal action to obtain control of the trust. In the context of this action the boy alleges having been forced to engage in reciprocal oral sex with his seventy-two-year-old grandmother. The boy’s descriptions of this activity used words which are much more sophisticated than the rest of his vocabulary. For example, he uses the word ejaculate and cunnilingus, but can not explain what they mean. It emerges that the allegations are fabricated by the father who had coerced and coached the boy as he feels it will aid his efforts to gain sole control of the trust fund.

SUBTYPE II: FALSE ALLEGATIONS RESULTING FROM
THE ACCUSER’S PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTURBANCE

This type of false allegation is the outgrowth of psychological disturbance of the reporting individual, be it the child himself/herself, a caregiver, a relative or neighbor. When the reporter is the child the nature of the disorder is usually such that it compromises the ability to differentiate fantasy from reality, such as borderline personality disorder or a psychotic process. In cases where the reporter is an adult caregiver, the disorder usually entailed a circumscribed delusional process in an individual who in general appears to be functioning adequately.

Example 1: A woman who had been sexually abused by her fourteen-year-old brother when she was twelve has two children, an older son and a younger daughter who also are two years apart in age. When the son reaches age fourteen and the daughter twelve, the mother becomes obsessed with the thought that her son is abusing her daughter. The evidence that she reveals is clearly delusional in nature although she does not appear to be grossly psychotic. The allegations (which the daughter denies) are ultimately seen as an outgrowth of the mother’s early abuse at the hands of her brother.

Example 2: An immigrant from a civil-war-torn third-world country brings her seven-year-old son for treatment following the dismissal of charges brought against a male summer camp worker who the mother had alleged abused her child. The therapy does not focus on the alleged abuse, but rather, on the difficulty the mother and her children are having in adjusting to a strange culture without family supports. Approximately 18 months after treatment begins the therapists receive a call from a local hospital late in the evening. The mother has arrived with her son at the emergency room stating that she has found blood in her son’s underwear and that upon questioning him about this he had admitted that he had been sodomized by a black male teacher at school. The physical examination revealed no signs of anal tears. Both the mother’s therapist and the boy’s therapist are concerned about the extremely distraught nature of the mother and the reticence of the boy, but decide it is safe for them to return home. Two days later the boy calls his therapist and leaves a message on his answering machine that no abuse had occurred and that he had been forced by the mother into disclosing the abuse. It subsequently emerges that in what would appear to have been a circumscribed delusional episode, the mother had mistaken menstrual blood on her underwear for blood stains on her son’s underwear. When he denied that he had been sodomized she had beaten him until he agreed with her. The exact genesis of this delusion is never fully determined, however, the therapist who worked with the mother does elicit an unfolding history of abuse that the mother had suffered in the context of the civil war in her native country.

SUBTYPE III: FALSE ALLEGATION AS CONSCIOUS MANIPULATION BY THE CHILD OR ADOLESCENT

This type of false allegation refers to those instances where a child makes an allegation of abuse toward an adult either as a means to obtain a specific goal or out of vindictiveness, desire for revenge or rage. The most infamous example of this type of allegation involved not sexual abuse, but witchcraft. When the adolescent girls of Salem who started the witchcraft hysteria were asked (after the hysteria had passed) why they had watched their victims hanged or burned at the stake a few of them answered “for sport.” ^[13] This type of sadistic premeditation is fortunately quite rare and most of the case examples cited in the literature involve children who want to extricate themselves from a living situation with a step parent or foster family that is not to their liking. There are also cases involving an allegation that is the outgrowth of anger over a perceived injustice or feelings of abandonment.

Example: A seven-year-old, severely deprived boy forms a close relationship with his primary counselor at a long-term residential treatment center. Following the return from an annual camping trip, the boy alleges that the counselor molested him on a hike, despite the observation that there were almost always others around. Prior to the trip, the counselor had told the boy that he would be terminating in two months to return to college. The counselor was encouraged to continue his termination work with the boy without withdrawing from him. During the course of the subsequent investigation the boy admits that he had fabricated the allegation out of his feelings of anger and abandonment over the counselor’s announced termination.

SUBTYPE IV: IATROGENIC

Iatrogenic components can be found in many cases involving false allegations. These factors most often consist of contamination errors involved in the conduct of the evaluation. There is also an iatrogenic quality to much of the pseudo-clinical lore that has developed concerning allegations of sexual abuse by children. Taken in their totality these baseless clinical “axioms,” such as “children never lie,” make it logically impossible for an allegation not to be found to be true once it has been made. For example, if the child later retracts the allegation it is said to be due to the child’s ambivalence and need to protect the perpetrator.

Pure iatrogenic cases are relatively rare. However, one individual can do significant social and clinical harm, such as the pediatrician in England who felt that she could detect sexual abuse based on subtle findings on physical examination which were known only to her. Based on these results charges were made against a number of parents in one village in England. ^[14] Although we have not been able to obtain material relating to the psychological profile of these individuals one would assume that at least circumscribed psycho-pathological factors are involved. ^[15] Less flagrant but equally difficult to comprehend cases are summarized in the following narrative provided by a colleague:

An adolescent student at a private school seeks help for an eating disorder. The therapist has read articles concerning the frequency of sexual abuse in females with eating disorders. Despite a negative history of sexual abuse and what would appear to have been a stable family background, the therapist becomes convinced that there must have been an incestuous relationship between the girl and her father. Ultimately, she resorts to hypnotism. Under the influence of the hypnotic state and in response to distorting leading questions, the patient produces a history of sexual contact with the father that the therapist believes supports her theory. When the patient later states misgivings about the allegation she is told that it is common for victims to have ambivalent feelings about disclosure and is told that the allegations must be true.

COMBINATION SUBTYPE

As indicated above, most cases of false allegations do not evolve as purely as the examples cited in this article and involve elements of more than one subtype, (although it is usually possible to discern a major subtype). The following are three more detailed case examples involving multiple themes.

Example 1: Henry is a 32-year-old physician who met and married his wife, Helen, while in college. His wife had been married before and Henry proceeded with efforts to adopt his wife’s son by her previous marriage. The couple later has two daughters ages six and four. Helen gradually deteriorates psychologically. She refuses attempts at treatment by different psychiatrists who diagnose her as having a borderline personality disorder. Ultimately Henry seeks a divorce due to Helen’s condition and refusal of treatment. The couple have joint legal custody of their children and Helen is awarded physical custody. Henry is given liberal visitation with his children. Following the divorce Helen appears to deteriorate further and Henry becomes increasingly concerned about her refusal of treatment and her ability to care for the children. Reluctantly he petitions for sole legal and physical custody of the children with only visiting rights for Helen. The court-ordered evaluations of the parents are not favorable to Helen, and Henry appears to be on the verge of winning full custody. Literally hours before the final hearing, both daughters allege that Henry has sexually abused them during their visitation with him. Henry’s position rapidly changes from being on the verge of winning custody of his children to facing a grand jury. Although ultimately acquitted of the sexual abuse charges, the negative publicity destroys his career and he loses both custody and visitation with his children. The court mandates that he can only resume visitation if he undergoes psychological treatment. The therapist whom he is ordered to see states that as a prerequisite for therapy he must admit to the charges. Henry maintains his innocence and consequently can have only professionally supervised visits with his children. Henry resumes his visits under these constraining and expensive conditions while undertaking legal efforts to regain custody.

Three years after the sexual abuse allegation the adopted stepson comes forward and admits that he heard his mother coercing and coaching her daughters with the details of the allegations just before the final custody hearing. The daughters’ fear of the mother was such that they acquiesced. Despite this admission, favorable reports by the visitation supervisor, the dismissal by the grand jury, the reconstruction of his career, a successful second marriage, and favorable reports by subsequent professional evaluations, Henry is granted only a decrease in the percentage of supervised visits. The stigma of the original allegation coupled with the first psychologist’s report that he must be guilty because he refused to admit his guilt proves too great an influence on the judge who refuses to reverse his decision.

This case is illustrative of a combination of subtypes involving (1) aspects of those cases arising out of custody disputes, (2) psychological instability on the part of the reporter and, (3) an iatrogenic component. It also illustrates the power of the stigma of the allegation which can, on occasion, not even be undone even by first-hand witnesses to the contrary.

Example 2: Kerri is a fifteen-year-old, mildly retarded girl with Down’s syndrome who attends a special school. She lives at home with her parents, two brothers, and three sisters. Teachers at her school became concerned when Kerri begins to engage in sexually provocative behavior such as lifting up her skirt in the classroom. She will also openly masturbate. One of the teachers had attended a seminar in which she had been told that sexually provocative behavior in a student could be a sign of sexual abuse. On this basis the Department of Social Services is contacted. Leading questions by the interviewer yield an ambiguous statement by Kerri that she has been sexually abused. The details as she describes them are sketchy, but primarily consist of inappropriate touching of her genital area. When asked to name the perpetrator Kerri named her brothers, her father, two male teachers at her school, and a famous rock star.

At this point the Department of Social Services refers her to a local clinic specializing in sexual abuse. After attending the clinic on a weekly basis for several months, Kerri has developed a strong attachment to her female therapist, but still has not narrowed down the list of possible “perpetrators.” Out of desperation and pressure from the Department of Social Services, the therapist at the beginning of one session places Kerri in the therapy room by herself, puts a piece of paper in front of her and tells her that she will return in fifteen minutes; she further indicates that if Kerri does not write down the name of one perpetrator by the time she returns she can never come back to see her therapist again. When the therapist returns Kerri has written down the name of her father. The local authorities are contacted and the police come to remove the father from the family home. He is ordered by the court to maintain separate living quarters and to have only supervised visits with his family. The family hires a private attorney and eventually lose the house they are building as they cannot afford both the legal fees (which ultimately exceeded $40,000) and construction costs.

The family is referred to our clinic by their attorney to assist in their re-stabilization following this trauma. In her first interview Kerri states that just the night before the visit she had had dinner in Hollywood with the rock star she had once named as abusing her. When asked how she was able to get back and forth from the West coast so quickly, she says “Like this” and snaps her fingers. After four months of individual work with Kerri, which is purposefully not focused on the alleged abuse, she spontaneously tells her therapist that she has not been sexually abused by her father or anyone else. She has been voluntarily engaging in sexual activity with an older retarded boy at the school. It is this activity which has led to the sexually stimulated behavior observed by the teacher.

Kerri relates that she admitted to the sexual abuse when questioned by the Department of Social Services worker, because she was embarrassed by the sexual activity and afraid that she would get into trouble at school as a result. When asked to name a perpetrator she named several men to avoid blaming any one person. When she was confronted with naming one person, she had singled out her father out of a childish concrete view that her father was so powerful, he could not be hurt. The family subsequently sues the Department of Social Services.

An interesting footnote to this case is the reaction of the therapist to whom Kerri told the correct sequence of events. Even though this version is spontaneous rather than being built upon answers to leading questions, is consistent with the events, and is consistent each time she recounts it, the therapist is still worried that perhaps the father is guilty. After all she reasons he had been initially defensive and had worn dark glasses to one early session which the therapist had thought might be to cover up eyes bloodshot from drinking. This reaction on the part of the therapist again illustrates the stigmatizing power of the allegation.

Example 3: A junior at a small college has a well-known penchant for fabricating stories to friends and comes from a severely abusive background. While in the process of developing a story line for a fictional work, he calls a rape hotline and alleges that he has been sexually assaulted by an unnamed faculty member. The call elicits more of a response than he planned on, and the student retracts the allegation, stating it was made only in the interest of obtaining information for his fictional work.

The representatives of the college do not accept his explanation and begin to pressure the student into naming a faculty member. Under this pressure and hoping for an end to the incident, the student names faculty member A. After an informal evaluation of faculty member A, the college’s investigations conclude that it could not have been done by this individual, as he was away at the time of the alleged incidents. Confronted with this information, the student names faculty member B. Again, the investigations conclude that it could not have been this individual.

The investigators have reasons of their own to suspect yet a third faculty member. Accordingly, when confronting the student with the information that it could not have been faculty member B, they also tell him (even though this is not true) that faculty member C has been accused of sexually abusing a male student in the past. The rationalization of the investigators for engaging in this rather blatant falsehood is that they are sure that faculty member C is guilty, and a campus therapist told them that victims of abuse will often try to conceal the name of the perpetrator to protect him/her. Given this false information, the student formally names faculty member C and charges are brought against him.

This case represents elements of both subtype II (psychologically disturbed reporter) and subtype IV (iatrogenic). The jury spent fifteen minutes in deliberation before reaching a verdict of not guilty.

DISCUSSION

False allegations of sexual abuse by children and adolescents are statistically uncommon, occurring at the rate of 2 to 10 percent of all cases with rates up to 50% in special situations such as heated custody disputes. Nevertheless, when they do occur, they can be extremely detrimental to all involved including the accuser. Thus it is important that those who evaluate these allegations be open to the possibility of a false allegation and have a knowledge of the principal clinical subtypes of false allegation. Our research indicates that it is a narrow focus on the reporter and ignorance or dismissal of the broader contextual factors that often leads to the perpetuation of a false allegation.

The literature and our own clinical research has revealed four clinical subtypes of false allegations:

(1) Allegations arising in the context of custody disputes;
(2) Allegations stemming from psychological disturbances on the part of the accuser;
(3) Allegations resulting from conscious manipulation by the child or adolescent;
(4) Allegations based on iatrogenic elements.

While pure examples exist of all of these subtypes complicated cases will often have elements of more than one subtype although usually one subtype can be seen as the primary factor. Both subtypes I and III involve conscious manipulation. In subtype I an adult is consciously manipulating the child and in subtype three the child is consciously fabricating the allegation for manipulative purposes. Significant inertia on the part of authorities frustrates attempts to correct even recognized false allegations.

This material is presented in the interests of heightening the awareness of this serious miscarriage of clinical and legal processes and its severe and potentially irreversible social consequences. The field would benefit from the further research into the relative frequency of these subtypes of false allegations.

SUMMARY

The authors review the empirical literature concerning the frequency of false allegations of sexual abuse as well as the case report literature that describes individual episodes of false allegations in detail. The authors then construct a clinical typology that is derived from the literature and their own clinical experience with similar cases. The specific subtypes of the typology are: (1) False allegation in the context of a custody dispute, (2) false allegations resulting from psychological disturbance on the part of the accuser, (3) false allegation as a conscious manipulation by the child or adolescent and, (4) false allegations based on iatrogenic factors. Clinical examples of each subtype are presented. The case material presented and reviewed indicates the importance of attending to the contextual factors surrounding the allegation and pursuing a detailed comprehensive evaluation that is as free of bias as possible.