įalse accusations can be prompted, aggravated or perpetuated by law enforcement, child protection or prosecution officials who become convinced of the guilt of the accused. Researchers Poole and Lindsay suggested in 1997 applying separate labels to the two concepts, proposing the term "false allegations" be used specifically when the accuser is aware they are lying, and "false suspicions" for the wider range of false accusations in which suggestive questioning may have been involved. An allegation that is partially true and partially false, in that it mixes descriptions of events that actually happened with other events that did not occur.Ī false allegation can occur as the result of intentional lying on the part of the accuser or unintentionally, due to a confabulation, either arising spontaneously due to mental illness or resulting from deliberate or accidental suggestive questioning, coaching of the child, or faulty interviewing techniques.When a child makes this type of allegation it is termed "perpetrator substitution" An allegation that describes events that did occur, but were perpetrated by an individual who is not accused, and in which the accused person is innocent.It could also be done for the purposes of extortion or blackmail. An allegation that is completely false in that the events that were alleged did not occur It could be done to get back at a teacher or employer who denied them a grade for coursework, a pay raise or promotion.Accusations that are determined to be false based on corroborating evidence can be divided into three categories: When there is insufficient supporting evidence to determine whether an accusation is true or false, it is described as "unsubstantiated" or "unfounded". 3 Effect of changes to legal tests (UK).A number of false allegations of childhood sexual abuse have arisen from the use of a scientifically discredited technique called facilitated communication. There is also evidence that the UK (and formerly the New Zealand) systems of paying substantial compensation to alleged victims and their parents without requiring proof of the allegation, can provide a motive for making false allegations. Īnother possible motive is revenge by the person making the allegation against the accused person.
Of the allegations determined to be false, only a small portion originated with the child, the studies showed most false allegations originated with an adult bringing the accusations on behalf of a child, and of those, a large majority occurred in the context of divorce and child-custody battles. Studies on the rate of recorded child abuse allegations in the 1990s suggested that the overall rate of false accusations at that time was approximately 10%.
Such accusations can be brought by the alleged victim, or by another person on the alleged victim's behalf. False accusation claiming child sexual abuseĪ false allegation of child sexual abuse is an accusation against one or more individuals claiming that they committed child sexual abuse when no abuse has been committed by the accused.