RE: Intentionally False Abuse Allegations

["Stephanie Dallam" <sjdscout@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here is a brief overview of some of the research that has looked at the
rate of intentionally false abuse allegations -

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 comprised
less than 1% of all unsubstantiated reports of child abuse. 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. (Tables 3.1 and 3.2) 

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.

Stephanie Dallam