June is False Allegations Awareness Month

Here is a letter written to the editor of one of the Cambridge, OH newspapers. It is well written and speaks for itself without any additional commentary from me. I now share this with you and hope that you read it as intently as it was written!

Thank you Janice for your contribution and perspective on this important subject!

FALSE ALLEGATIONS – CRIMES UNPUNISHED

“An injustice to One Man, Woman, or Child Threatens Justice to All People Equally”, Dean Tong.

Our legal system can no longer guarantee equal protection under the law and a person is innocent until proven guilty is now far from inviolate.  How did we come to such sad commentary?

America’s legal system has become awash in false allegations of abuse including accusations of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assaults.  False allegations are harmful because they:  1. Take away scarce protections and services from real victims.  2. Can be devastating to the falsely accused.  3. Force children into single-parent households, placing them at higher risk of social pathologies.  4. Undermine due process and cause misuse of our legal system.

Clearly:  Making a false accusation of domestic violence is a crime, and persons who make such allegations should be held liable for their actions and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  We are belatedly coming to this realization.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in a statement spotlighted the “immense, often irreparable harm caused to their clients by false allegations, not only to reputation and personal relationship, but often to the accused individual’s livelihood and even health”, while the accuser gets off with no penalty at all. 

In Illinois, false allegations have been described as “part of the gamesmanship of divorce” and in Massachusetts, the former president of the Massachusetts Bar Association admitted, “Everyone knows that restraining orders and orders to vacate are granted to virtually all who apply…in many cases are now used for tactical advantage.

In 2008, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin signed into law House Bill 3065 that permits prosecutors to pursue misdemeanor criminal charges against people filing false child abuse reports.  It also allows the victims of false child abuse reports to file for civil damages, even if criminal prosecution has not been pursued.

As a misdemeanor crime, the criminal penalties are rather weak, but better than nothing.  Perhaps they may be enough to keep a few malicious parents from making false accusations of child abuse during child custody battles.  The hope is that people might be less inclined to throw out false accusations without thinking of the consequences.

Penalties should increase with frequency and severity of the false allegations.  It would have been more compelling of good behavior if parents prone to filing false reports suffered increasingly severe penalties based upon the number of false reports filed.  A second offense might double the penalties of a first time misdemeanor, and a third offense would turn into a felony with jail time.

A parent who falsely alleges child sexual abuse is likely to cause the target parent to lose custody for weeks, months or even years.  This is why the false child sexual abuse allegation has become a favored “nuclear option” in family law child custody disputes, particularly by mothers against fathers.

But perhaps worse is the damage done to the children.  Children who are interrogated about sexual abuse tend to be subjected to a high degree of trauma.  If the people involved are not competent, the children become easy targets for brainwashing resulting in even more mental damage.  When this trauma is inflicted on a child due to false accusation, it is particularly horrendous.

Our child protective laws, such as The Mondale Act and Megan’s Law, have instigated and invited scores of anonymous, unfounded reports of abuse to be made.  Organizations are working toward a clause added to Megan’s Law to protect the innocent from becoming victims of false allegations.

It is imperative that the public (especially men) educate and protect themselves against the seriousness of false allegations, and how easily it can happen to them.  Examples:  A student gets angry with a teacher or coach and makes a false allegation against him/her; or, during divorce proceedings the woman/mother will make false accusations; or, she will brainwash the children into making false allegations, against the father.  The scenarios are numerous.

June is False Allegations Awareness Month and this year’s theme is “Zero Tolerance for False Allegations” with events being held around the country to raise awareness that making a false allegation of abuse, is a form of abuse.

A False Allegations Kickoff Summit was held June 2, 2011 in Washington, DC featuring leading stakeholder organizations; including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Home School Legal Defense Association, and American Coalition for Fathers and Children, National Coalition for Men and Encounters International.

The summit released results of the first ever national survey of its type that was conducted May 2-4, 2011; statements by stakeholder organizations; victim testimonies, and release of Model Language to Stop False Allegations.  The study was commissioned by SAVE (Stop Abusive & Violent Environments), a victim advocacy organization.

A national telephone survey of 10,000 Americans had a 23% response rate.  This survey probed person’s first hand experiences with false allegations of child abuse, domestic violence and sexual abuse. Highlights of the survey are as follows:

            - Over 15% of the respondents personally knew someone who has been falsely accused.

            - 81% of the falsely accused persons were male.

            - Nearly 70% of the accusers were female.

            - Over a quarter of the cases – 26% - the accusation was made as part of a child custody dispute.

            - 11% of respondents said they, themselves, had been falsely accused of abuse.

Full survey results can be viewed at: www.saveservices.org/false-allegations-awareness-month/survey-results.

SAVE spokesperson, Natasha Spivack, explained, “This survey shows tens of millions of Americans being falsely accused of abuse”.  “These persons were stamped with the scarlet Abuser label, leaving them to wonder whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”.

Former Ohio Attorney General and Prosecutor, Jim Petro, and his wife, Nancy, were so compelled about the thought of innocent people who have been wrongfully imprisoned, haunted them to the point to authoring the book “False Justice”.  This eye opening book should be read by every citizen.  They found themselves confronted by deep problems in a system that had led to the convictions of innocent people.  Jim Petro assists with “The Innocence Project” in their work of using DNA to free these innocent victims imprisoned due to false justice.

More in-depth information and verification of statistics can be found at:

            www.abuse-excuse.com                          (Dean Tong)

            www.deantong.com                                        (Dean Tong)

            www.saveservices.org/false-allegations-awareness-month  (SAVE)

            www.false-allegations-team.com        (FAST)  False Allegations Solution Team

            www.falsejustice.com                                      (Jim & Nancy Petro)

Facebook also provides several organizations offering various types of support and first-hand experiences from victims.

False allegations have produced attorneys, attorney consultants and experts who specialize solely in defending victims of false sex abuse allegations.  One such person is Dean Tong.  He is a noted author and Forensic Trial Expert and Child Abuse Expert.  Tong with an MSc., BS, holds a Masters of Science in Child Forensic Studies in Psychology and the Law.  He is a guest speaker and consultant in 48 states; an author; and, has appeared on 2000 radio talk shows, plus several TV shows.  He’s had numerous articles published in notorious newspapers throughout the country.  He’s appeared on The Dr. Phil Show, Court TV, CBS 48 Hours, and A Current Affair.

Tong claims not only are the children victims of real abuse, but also of PAS (Parental Alienation Syndrome) and the target parent a victim of SAID (Sexual Allegation In Divorce).  Both PAS and SAID’s work in concert when the abuse-excuse is used as a tactic by one parent seeking divorce and/or child custody known as “Malicious Mom Syndrome”.

Tong reveals recent research indicates that most unfounded claims of sexual child abuse are fostered by delusional accusers who may suffer from a mental health disorder (BPD), such as Borderline Personality Disorder, and they will shop for an expert to confirm their child has been abused; and, will not take NO for an answer.  Some accusers use the psychological phenomena of projection and transference to convince the “abused” child….”Daddy touched you in bad places”.

Tong states: The very solution has become the problem!  Lacking the necessary education and training skills to conduct objective and competent child protective “investigations”, intake workers at social service agencies remove non-abused children from their homes frequently; and in doing so, leave truly abused children in jeopardy.  Combine this equation with a mental health industry that is rendering unnecessary clinical therapies for alleged repressed memories, and you have a prescription for disaster.

Tong  states:  To exacerbate matters, our triers’of-facts, our courts, are rubber stamping error-rich recommendations from guardians-ad-litem, social services, child protective teams, and therapists….forcing non-abused children into harm’s way (at the hands of the state).  He states, “We will not win the war against child abuse until we first win the battle against false allegations”.

Tong quotes Dr. Charles Ford, a leading psychiatrist and author and co-author of five books, who’s been featured in a Discovery Channel documentary, “The Science of Lying” and has appeared on a number of network radio/television programs including “The Today Show” and “Dateline”.

Dr. Ford refers to a phenomenon known as “Pseudologia Fantastica” or pathological lying.  Sometimes associated with Borderline Personality Disorder and a symptom of Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy or Factitious Disorder; these fantastic liars, are not the same as delusional psychotics.  He states that, “Such liars are often smooth-talking narcissists, so self-centered they often think they can construct a reality.  In many instances the lying gets worse as the liar gets more power.

Again, Tong states, “An Injustice to One Man, Woman or Child Threatens Justice to All People Equally”.

Such are the consequences of False Allegations.

Janice Dennis

Cambridge, OH  43725