False Charges

First Aid for False Charges:

When you learn you are being falsely charged with abusing or molesting your child: Retain expert legal counsel.

Anticipate that the worst is yet to come. Consider retaining a consultant to devise a defense strategy to help prove the accused’s innocence while impeaching the credibility of the false accusers.

Create a timeline or chronology of events and circumstances.

Educate yourself and your legal counsel about current scientific literature in child development, children’s suggestibilities, memories and false accusations of abuse.

Ask your attorney to file these motions:

– Motions in limine to exclude any scientific evidence BEFORE it is presented;

– Motions for hearsay relevancy and competency hearings BEFORE hearsay evidence is admitted by the court;

– Motions to suppress unnecessary and deleterious therapy sessions of the alleged incest victim(s);

A request for production of documents, and if necessary a motion to compel, to obtain all discoverable notes, documents and statements that may help your case.

A motion for independent psychological investigation (sometimes called an IME) to have the child evaluated by your expert PhD on video.

Depose all necessary parties who may contradict the accusers’ hearsay statements. Take the necessary tests to prove your innocence.

Attorneys who specialize in defense against false allegations of sexual abuse in divorce actions are listed in the appendices to Dean Tong’s book, “Elusive Innocence,” along with consumer information on how to choose an attorney and case precedents on the issue. Tong also includes web site listings for investigators, psychiatrists, psychologists and full defense teams. Some of these listings can also be found at Tong’s web site, www.abuse-excuse.com/2010_hot_links.html

Sexual Allegations In Divorce (SAID)Syndrome:

The SAID Syndrome was first recognized in a 1986 study by Dr. Gordon J. Blush and Karol L. Ross. The study identified six domestic situations that suggest the possibility of false child sexual abuse allegations. They are:

– Evidence of a family on the verge of marital breakup

– Divorce proceedings already in progress

– Divorce proceedings that have been unsuccessfully in progress for some time

– Unresolved visitation or custody problems

– Unresolved money issues related to a divorce in progress

– Involvement of either or both parents in ongoing relationships with others

Blush and Ross observed that several behaviors indicate the possibility of false allegations:

– The allegation surfaces after separation, when legal action for divorce has begun.

– The family has a history of dysfunction, with unresolved divorce conflict.

– The female parent tends to exhibit a hysterical personality pattern.

– The male parent tends to exhibit a passive-dependent personality pattern

– The child is a female, under the age of eight, who shows behavioral patterns of verbal exaggeration, excessive willingness to indict, inappropriate affective responses and inconsistencies.

– The allegation is communicated by the custodial parent, usually the mother.

– The mother takes the child to an “expert” for further examination, assessment or treatment.