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30 J. Fam. L. 919 (1991-1992)
The Other Victim: The Falsely Accused Parent in a Sexual Abuse Custody Case

handle is hein.journals/branlaj30 and id is 929 raw text is: THE OTHER VICTIM: THE FALSELY ACCUSED PARENT IN A SEXUAL ABUSE CUSTODY CASE I. INTRODUCTION Victims of crimes elicit a substantial amount of sympathy in our society. Our hearts go out to the undeserving neighbor whose life has been violated and prized possessions carried off by a thief. Law en- forcement rushes to apprehend and the courts to prosecute the intruder, restoring to the innocent what is rightfully his or hers. There is one type of victim, however, whose plight escapes public sympathy and, even more regrettably, significant legal protection. He' is the innocent parent who, in the course of a custody or visitation dispute, is falsely accused of sexually abusing his child. He too has been robbed - of his most prized possession. Through no fault of his own, he loses, at most, custody of his child and, at the very least, the parent-child relationship he enjoyed prior to the false accusation. Social stigma and financial burden add to his victimization. He becomes the victim in his drama just as the abused child is the victim when the allegation is true. This Note examines the legal and social consequences for the par- ent falsely accused in a custody or visitation proceeding of sexually abusing his child. It looks first at the prevalence of sexual abuse allega- tions in custody cases, focusing on the false allegation and its tactical significance. It then points out the many repercussions a sexual abuse allegation may have for the accused and the various rights at stake. An in-depth discussion of the custody dispute forum and the peculiarities that make it only minimally cognizant of a parent's rights follows. The Note then explores the possible outcomes when an innocent parent is Despite the trend for gender neutrality, this Note employs the masculine pronoun when referring to the parent accused of sexual abuse. While fathers in custody disputes do charge mothers with abuse (see e.g., Peterson v. Peterson, 818 P.2d 1305 (Utah Ct. App. 1991); Owen v. Owen, 549 N.E.2d 410 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990)), research for this Note found such cases to be the exception rather than the rule. One study showed that the biological father was the alleged perpe- trator in half the reported child abuse cases, while only eight percent charged were female. Theon- nes & Pearson, Recommendations from the Sexual Abuse Allegtions Project, in NATIONAL LE- GAL RESOURCE CENTER FOR CHILD ADVOCACY AND PROTECTION, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, SEXUAL ABUSE ALLEGATIONS IN CUSTODY AND VISITATION CASES 20 (E. Nicholson, ed. 1988). 919

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