Adolescents tend to be neglected in research examining child sexual abuse (CSA) interviews yet are often said to be particularly reluctant. This study examined reluctance among 119 10- to 17-year-old females questioned about suspected CSA (n = 25,942 responses), utilizing a scheme identifying...

Children's initial reports often play a key role in the identification of maltreatment, and a sizeable amount of scientific research has examined how children disclose sexual and physical abuse. Although neglect constitutes a large proportion of maltreatment experiences, relatively little...

This study examined the effects of credibility-challenging questions (n = 2,729) on 62 5- to 17-year-olds' testimony in child sexual abuse cases in Scotland by categorizing the type, source, and content of the credibility-challenging questions defence lawyers asked and assessing how children...

In child sexual abuse cases, a central part of the child’s testimony is their description of the abuse episode. However, children often struggle to describe the body mechanics of abuse, and miscommunications are likely. The present study examined questions about the mechanics of abuse in trial...

Controversy abounds regarding the process by which child sexual abuse (CSA) victims disclose their experiences, particularly the extent to which and reasons why some children, once having disclosed abuse, later recant their allegations. This study examined the prevalence and predictors of...

The underlying reasons for recantation in children’s disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA) have been debated in recent years. In the present study, we examined the largest sample of substantiated CSA cases involving recantations to date (n = 58 cases). We specifically matched those cases to...

Ross Cheit’s book The Witch-Hunt Narrative highlights the difficulties of prosecuting child sexual abuse. Drawing examples from a single case, Alex A., we examine the ways in which false acquittals of sexual abuse are likely to occur. First, prosecutors tend to question children in ways that...