PEDIATRICS Vol. 81 No. 6 June 1988, pp. 835-839
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Substantiation of Sexual Abuse Charges When Parents Dispute Custody or Visitation

Jan E. Paradise MD1, Anthony L. Rostain MD1, and Madelaine Nathanson PhD1

1 From the Division of General Pediatrics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, and the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia

Recent news reports have implied that charges of sexual child abuse during parental separation or divorce are often deliberately falsified. Such a conclusion could be harmful if it biased practitioners faced with such allegations in clinical practice. To investigate this concern, sexual abuse cases in a hospital-based consecutive series and in one author's clinical practice were reviewed. Abuse allegations with and without a concomitant custody or visitation dispute were compared. A custody or visitation dispute occurred in 12 (39%) of 31 sexual abuse complaints lodged against a parent. Allegedly abused children whose parents contested custody or visitation were significantly younger than those for whom custody or visitation was not an issue (5.4 v 7.8 years, P = .02). Sexual abuse allegations were substantiated less frequently when there was concomitant parental conflict (67% v 95%, nonsignificant) but were nevertheless substantiated more than half of the time.

Key Words: sexual child abuse • divorce • parents

Submitted on May 11, 1987
Accepted on August 6, 1987




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