ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD ABUSE 

There is nothing more powerful in a custody/visitation dispute than for a parent to claim child abuse. The parent against whom this allegation is made will often be up against a brick wall. Unless you have an enlightened court (not likely) your contact with your children will be at best supervised. Your visits will be monitored. Your rights will be jeopardized. Your fight is never ending.

Most courts err on the side of “protecting the child from the alleged perpetrator”. This is so one-sided it is scary. The courts rarely protect the child from the parent who is falsely accusing the other parent of child abuse.

Years ago a study was conducted by expert evaluators on false allegations of child abuse in the context of divorce/custody battles. They published numerous articles about this phenomenon, calling it S.A.I.D. (Sexual Allegations in Divorce). Numerous other studies have been conducted on proper interviewing techniques, how false allegations are made, and how memories are tainted. All of this research needs to be understood by your attorney.

It is important for your lawyer to educate the court as to how false allegations come about. Your experts know the research behind false allegations, and will be of great assistance in explaining this information to the court.

The same admonitions I set forth in the criminal context also apply here. Your lawyer needs to know the science. He needs to direct you through this jungle.

I have handled hundreds of divorce and custody cases where false allegations of abuse have been raised. In one case of particular note, a man had supervised visitation with his children in his divorce decree. When I got involved, after a ten day trial, we were able to convince the Judge that the father should have custody and the mother should have supervised visitation. That is only one of the many cases I have handled in family and juvenile court.

In many of these cases the court will appoint a guardian to represent the children. The guardian will be making a recommendation to the court concerning custody and visitation issues. The selection of the guardian could critically affect the outcome of your case. You need to make sure that, if at all possible, your lawyer assists you in the selection of a guardian who is either knowledgeable, or at least willing to learn the nature of the false allegations and how they come about.

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