"FALSE ALLEGATIONS"
These are "False Allegations" Resources.
Please also see: Memory Repression/Recovery Resources
ARTICLES/INFORMATION/RESEARCH
How Often Do Children’s Reports of Abuse Turn Out to be False?
Q&A from The Leadership Council with citations.
The Myth of Epidemic False Allegations of Sexual Abuse in Divorce Cases
Court Review, Spring 1998. [PDF]
Recantation in Child Sexual Abuse Cases
Child Welfare, Nov/Dec 1991
1997 NCANDS REPORT, intentionally false report statistics
Child Maltreatment 1997: Reports from the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (Government Printing Office, 1999) Page D-9, Tables 3.1 and 3.2
Four states (Florida, Missouri, Vermont, and Virginia) gathered data on intentionally false reports as a subgroup of unsubstantiated reports.
| STATES | TOTAL REPORTS | UNSUBSTANTIATED | INTENTIONALLY FALSE |
| Florida | 186,726 | 92,337 | 868 |
| Missouri | 80,185 | 49,490 | 460 |
| Vermont | 2,309 | 1,257 | 18 |
| Virginia | 51,227 | 37,282 | 457 |
| TOTAL | 320,447 | 180,366 | 1,803 |
Intentionally false reports as a percentage of unsubstantiated reports:
.00999634 (less than 1 out of 100 unsubstantiated reports)
The table from which this data was compiled may be accessed at:
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/
ncands97/apd.htm
