http://ritualabuse.us/research/false-allegations-of-child-sexual-abus...
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/csa-acc.html

How often do children’s reports of abuse
turn out to be false?
Research has consistently shown that false allegations of child sexual
abuse by children are rare.
Jones and McGraw examined 576 consecutive referrals of child sexual
abuse to the Denver Department of Social Services, and categorized the
reports as either reliable or fictitious. In only 1% of the total
cases were children judged to have advanced a fictitious allegation.
Jones, D. P. H., and J. M. McGraw: Reliable and Fictitious Accounts of
Sexual Abuse to Children.Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2, 27-45,
1987.

In a more recent study, investigators reviewed case notes of all child
sexual abuse reports to the Denver Department of Social Services over
12 months. Of the 551 cases reviewed, there were only 14 (2.5%)
instances of erroneous concerns about abuse emanating from children.
These consisted of three cases of allegations made in collusion with a
parent, three cases where an innocent event was misinterpreted as
sexual abuse and eight cases (1.5%) of false allegations of sexual
abuse. Oates, R. K., D.P. Jones, D. Denson, A. Sirotnak, N. Gary, and
R.D. Krugman: Erroneous Concerns about Child Sexual Abuse. Child Abuse
& Neglect 24:149-57, 2000.

Everson and Boat interviewed child protective service workers and
found an estimated rate of false allegations that fell between 4.7 to
7.6% of all child and adolescent reports of sexual abuse. Everson,
M.D., and B.W. Boat: False Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Children and
Adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, 28, 230-5, 1989.

After reviewing the empirical literature concerning the frequency of
false allegations of sexual abuse, Mikkelsen, Gutheil, and Emens
concluded: “False allegations of sexual abuse by children and
adolescents are statistically uncommon, occurring at the rate of 2 to
10 percent of all cases.” Mikkelsen, E.J., T.G. Gutheil, and M Emens:
False Sexual-Abuse Allegations by Children and Adolescents: Contextual
Factors and Clinical Subtypes. American Journal of Psychotherapy 46:
556-70, 1992.

When four different states (Florida, Missouri, Vermont, and Virginia)
reviewed Child Protective Service (CPS) records to determine the
extent of false reporting, they found intentionally false reports to
comprise less than 1% of all unsubstantiated reports of child abuse
(0.00999634 or less than 1 out of 100 unsubstantiated reports)

1997 NCANDS REPORT, Statistics on Intentionally False Reports

STATES  TOTAL REPORTS  UNSUBSTANTIATED  INTENTIONALLY FALSE
Florida  186,726  92,337  868
Missouri  80,185  49,490  460
Vermont  2,309  1,257  18
Virginia  51,227  37,282  457
TOTAL  320,447  180,366  1,803

Section D-9, adapted from Tables 3.1 and 3.2.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for
Children and Families, Children's Bureau. (1999). Child Maltreatment
1997: Reports from the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect
Data System. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/
ncands97/apd.htm

Children Tend to Understate Rather than Overstate the Extent of Any
Abuse Experienced
Research with children whose sexual abuse has been proven has shown
that children tend to minimize and deny abuse, not exaggerate or over-
report such incidents.

In one study, researchers examined 28 cases in which children had
tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease by forensically
accepted procedures. To be included in the study, the children had to
have presented for a physical problem with no prior disclosure or
suspicion of sexual abuse. In addition, subjects were required to be
over the age of three but prepubescent and were required to have
adequate expressive language capabilities. Each of the 28 children was
interviewed by a social worker trained in abuse disclosure techniques
and use of anatomically correct dolls. Only 12 of the 28 (43%) of the
abused children interviewed gave any verbal confirmation of sexual
contact. Lawson, L., & Chaffin, M. False negatives in sexual abuse
disclosure interviews. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 7(4),
532-42, 1992.

The “gold standard” study in this area comes from Sweden. This case
involved a lone perpetrator who pled guilty after videotapes of his
abuse of ten children were found by authorities. Because of these
detailed videotape recordings, researchers knew exactly what happened
to these children and were able to compare it to what the children
told investigators when they interviewed. The researchers found here
was a significant tendency among the children to deny or minimize
their experiences. Some children simply did not want to disclose their
experiences, some had difficulties remembering them, and one child
lacked adequate concepts to understand and describe them. Despite the
fact that some of the interviews included leading questions, there
were no false allegations. Sjoberg, R. L., & Lindblad, F. Limited
disclosure of sexual abuse in children whose experiences were
documented by videotape. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(2),
312-4, 2002.

Some people believe that recantations are a sure sign that a child
lied about the abuse. However, a recent study found that pressure from
family members play a significant role in recantations. Mallory et al.
(2007) examined the prevalence and predictors of recantation among 2-
to 17-year-old child sexual abuse victims. Case files (n = 257) were
randomly selected from all substantiated cases resulting in a
dependency court filing in a large urban county between 1999 and 2000.
Recantation (i.e., denial of abuse postdisclosure) was scored across
formal and informal interviews. Cases were also coded for
characteristics of the child, family, and abuse. The researchers found
a 23.1% recantation rate. The study looked for but did not find
evidence that these recantations resulted from potential inclusion of
cases involving false allegations. Instead, multivariate analyses
supported a filial dependency model of recantation, whereby abuse
victims who were more vulnerable to familial adult influences (i.e.,
younger children, those abused by a parent figure and who lacked
support from the nonoffending caregiver) were more likely to
recant.alloy, L.C. , Lyon, T.D. , & Quas, J.A. (2007). Filial
dependency and recantation of child sexual abuse allegations. Journal
of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 162-70.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/?id=ABUSE.SPR

Children’s Testimony More Reliable than Physical Exams

Description
Allegations made by child victims of sexual abuse closely match the
confessions of perpetrators. In addition, physical exams are
unreliable indicators of sexual abuse.

Children’s testimony more reliable than physical exams in cases of
sexual abuse

Although many people find a child’s testimony in cases of sexual abuse
hard to believe, a new study proves that their allegations should be
taken seriously.

The study, conducted at Children’s Hospital Medical Center of
Cincinnati, shows that allegations made by child victims match closely
with confessions of pedophiles. The study also shows that genital
exams are most often normal in victims of sexual abuse, even when
genital penetration is admitted to, making it all the more imperative
to listen to what children say, according to the study’s authors….

The researchers reviewed the records of 31 pedophiles who confessed
between 1994 and 1999. The case files contained all available victim,
witness and perpetrator statements, and pertinent victim medical
records. They analyzed each case for admissions or denials of specific
sexual acts. They also analyzed victim medical histories, examinations
and reports from criminal investigators for specific histories of
sexual assault and exam findings.

The 31 perpetrators confessed to a total of 101 acts of sexual abuse,
some of which they committed multiple times. The perpetrators abused
47 children. The 45 old enough to provide a history described 111 acts
of sexual abuse.

The perpetrators confessed to 68 percent of their victims’
allegations, and they denied 6 percent. The only acts denied were some
allegations of penile-vaginal and penile-rectal penetration, possibly
because of the stiffer criminal penalties associated with penetration,
according to Dr. Shapiro, an emergency medicine physician at
Cincinnati Children’s. The perpetrators were not specifically asked
about the other 26 percent of victim allegations….

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