In our previous installment in this two part series on false allegations of child molestation, The Kronzek Firm looked at two of the four most common scenarios where false allegations are likely to happen. Moving forward we would like to look at the next two.
Briefly however, we reiterate what a false sexual allegation is. It is a an accusation that a person has committed one or more acts of child sexual abuse, which never actually happened. In other words, it is a fabricated accusation against a person who is innocent of that crime.
The first two situations are misunderstandings, when an adult misses the true meaning in something a child says and automatically assumes that they are talking about a sinister occurrence. The other is during forensic interviews, when CPS workers, social workers and police can influence children to provide the answers they want. Next on the list is children who have been adopted or are in foster care. Because of the high danger of tainting a child’s answers, Michigan has adopted very specific protocols for interviewing children.
Fostered & Adopted Children
Foster children who come out of abusive situations, in which they have formerly been the victim of physical, sexual or emotional abuse, are often the source of false allegations of molestation. Sometimes this is because they use the allegations as a weapon or a manipulation tool to get what they want. On occasion, a foster child will report abuse that never happened as a way to get attention and, in some instances, as a method of control over circumstances where they feel powerless and helpless. These situations are intentional. However, there are times when the reports are not made out of malice.
Sometimes children in the foster care system will open up to an adult and discuss abuses that did in fact take place in their past. Because the child doesn’t necessarily provide all of the chronological details or correctly specify the when the abuse took place, the adult who is hearing about it for the first time may not realize that this information isn’t current. They then report the abuse, not realizing that the events took place in a previous foster home, or even in the child’s original home.
Some statistics say that one third to one half of reported abuses against foster children never actually took place, but were instead fabricated by the self-assumed victim. In many of these cases, because the child has been a victim of abuse in the past, their stories can be convincing.
Child Custody Battles
Another common instances where false allegations of molestation come up In Michigan is during high conflict divorces, where the parents are engaged in a battle for custody of their children. In these instances one partner, usually the custodial parent, reports the other for domestic abuse or child abuse in the hopes of gaining an advantage in a custody or parenting time fight. Sometimes the abuse reported is physical, but sometimes it is sexual, and this is where the accusation of molestation comes in.
A spouse who is viewed as a victim of abuse or as a parent defending their child against an abuser, has a lot to gain and very little to lose. They are often allowed to keep the family home when their ‘abusive’ spouse is forced to move out. They’re also more likely to get primary physical custody of the children, which means larger child support payments and other free support services. Additionally, they are hailed as survivors, where their ex is labeled a monster.
If the abuse is real and they really are victims, then all of this is as it should be. But when the allegations are fabrications created to engineer a situation in their favor, it can destroy the lives of the accused spouse and have a disastrous effect on the children.
False allegations of abuse, especially sexual abuse of children, are very serious. If you or a loved one have been falsely accused of molesting or abusing a child, you should immediately hire an attorney with decades of experience fighting false allegation cases. Don’t wait hoping that these allegations will just go away. Don’t believe that the authorities will realize that it was a lie. That rarely happens. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
Contact us immediately at 866-766-5245. The skilled attorneys at the Kronzek Firm have decades of experience handling allegations of child abuse and child molestation in Michigan. We have been able to save a great many of our clients from the suffering that comes with being falsely accused of a crime. We can help you through this dark and frightening time.