DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN TRUE AND FALSE SEX-ABUSE ACCUSATIONS IN CHILD-CUSTODY DISPUTES

In recent years there has been a progressive increase in sex-abuse accusations in the context of child-custody disputes. Some of these accusations are valid and some are not. Because such an accusation can serve as an extremely powerful vengeance and exclusionary maneuver, it has become particularly attractive to parents embroiled in such disputes. Differentiating between true and false sex-abuse accusations in such a setting may be extremely difficult. Presented here are some of the criteria the author has found useful for making this differentiation. Utilization of these criteria require interviews with the child, the accuser, and the accused. Seventy differentiating criteria are presented divided among the three interviewees: 22 for the accused, 21 for the child, and 27 for the accuser.