Techniques for interviewing children in child sexual abuse cases

First point to remember during a CPS hearing is that the social workers/investigators are poorly trained.  The second point to remember is that Sandra Glenney will not hire any “expert witness” who may be inclined to believe the latest research in Child Suggestibility. This is not intended to be a derogatory remark, the people who make up Loudoun County Child Protective Services are operation with a very 80’s mentalities. The “Believe the Child” mantra is alive and well with Loudoun CPS . During the Satanic Panic and daycare cases of the 80’s and 90’s the mantra for most Child Protection Agencies was “believe the children”. For the residents of Salem in the 1600’s this had fatal consequences,as it was children who levied the accusations of witchcraft in Salem.

Sandra Glenney and CPS will not know the research, the volumes of research that has been done since the 80’s concerning sexual abuse accusations,. In the case of false accusations it is important to understand that your child is not lying. At such a young age, your child is not capable of lying as adults can.

Your task and your attorney’s task, will need to research why your child is saying what they are saying.  Specifically, what were the circumstance surrounding the original disclosure. Did the disclosure come after repeated questioning by the other parent? f the disclosure came after repeated questioning by the other parent, this is a extreme red flag and should be explored in great detail. This is why you have to get all of the CPS notes , all of them. In one case, it was revealed the mother questioned a child for 45 minutes before a disclosure was made. This did not raise a red flag to Benjamin Smith, simply because he was poorly trained and did not know the research.

Next, you must have an account of all the occasions that your child has spoken to someone about the alleged abuse. The following paper does a fine job of detailing normally what happens after an accusation has been made. Your child will be exposed to a forensic interview, more than likely a meeting with Sandra Glenney and additional meetings with Loudoun County Mental Health. Your child will essentially be interview many times. Through these multiple interviews your child will feel pressure to please the adults. You must obtain the number of times your child was spoken to and get a transcript of each conversation.

From the document;

“The typical investigative procedures involve repeater interviews by police, social workers and/or mental health professionals”

“This may create confusion of fact and reality and teach the child to please adults by giving them what they want. It is through this process that a false allegation is developed.”

You and your attorney need to get every record and note from every interview that is done with your child. Sadly most workers and therapists, especially those employed by Loudoun County will not have any familiarity with the latest research.  They will not be aware of the issue of suggestibility with children. A young will perceive repeated questions as an indication that they are answering incorrectly. The child will eventually wear down and provide the answers that they feel the questioner wants to hear.

Unfortunately, your child will be dealing with the very incompetent staff of Sandra Glenney and Loudoun CPS. You must know the research , educate the judge and expose the lack of knowledge by CPS.