Allegations of Sexual Abuse in Divorce

This study examines a clinical sample of 215 cases of allegations of sexual abuse in families also involved in divorce. Cases are categorized into situations in which: (1) disclosure of sexual abuse is followed by divorce (N = 31), (2) divorce is followed by disclosure of pre-existing sexual abuse (N = 54), (3) divorce is followed by sexual abuse (N = 58), (4) false allegations by adults (N = 31), (5) possible false allegations by adults (N = 14), (6) dynamics of sexual abuse not directly related to divorce (N = 27), and false allegations by children (N = 9). In addition, clinical substantiation (found in 72.6% of cases) and lack thereof are examined in terms of their relation to case characteristics assumed to be indicative of a true allegation: offender confession, offender conviction, medical/police evidence, other victims and witnesses, information from significant others, information from other professionals, and child interview data. Legal outcomes, including protection of the child, court substatiation, and any sanctions against the complaint, and their relationships to case characteristics, are described. The court substantiation rate is about half the clinic substantiation rate. Close to a fifth of parents raising concerns about sexual abuse exprienced some form of sanction.