DOJ-OGR-00005938.jpg

Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document397-2 Filed 10/29/21 Disclosure Patterns in Child Sexual Abuse disclosure are higher in the adolescent study than in the adult study, a reassuring finding given the increased awareness of sexual abuse in society during the past 20 years. Goodman-Brown and colleagues (2003) examined USA district attorney files of 218 children. Their categories were slightly different from the previous two studies but in summary, immediate disclosers (within 1 month) constituted 64 per cent of the sample while 29 per cent disclosed within six months. This study is unusual insofar as the sample studied had reported their experience of abuse to the authorities and a prosecution was in progress. Goodman-Brown ef al. also pointed out that families who participated in this study were more likely to represent those children who experienced abuse by someone outside the family. Research has found that delays in disclosure are longer for those abused within the family (Sjoberg and Lindblad, 2002; Goodman-Brown ef al., 2003; Kogan, 2004; Hershkowitz et al., 2005). Therefore, children who disclose more promptly may be overrepresented in legal samples. In Sweden, Priebe and Svedin (2008) conducted a national survey of 4339 adolescents, of whom 1962 reported some form of sexual abuse (65% of girls and 23% of boys). Details of the time lapse in disclosing were not available from this study. However, of those who had disclosed and answered the questions on disclosure (n = 1493), 59.5 per cent had told no-one of their experiences prior to the survey. Of those who did disclose, 80.5 per cent mentioned a ‘friend of my own age’ as the only person who they had told. In this study, 6.8 per cent had reported their experiences to the social authorities or police. A further Swedish study of 122 women who had experienced childhood sexual abuse (Jonson and Lindblad, 2004) found that 32 per cent disclosed during childhood (before the age of 18) while the majority told in adulthood (68%). The delay was up to 49 years, with an average of 21 years (SD = 12.9). Of those who told in childhood, 59 per cent told only one person. In Ireland, the SAVI study (n = 3118, McGee ef al., 2002) found that 47 per cent of those respondents who had experienced some form of sexual assault prior to age 17 had told no-one of this experience until the survey. McElvaney (2002) investigated delay in a legal sample of ten adults who had made formal complaints of childhood sexual abuse in Ireland and found delays ranging from 20 years to 50 years. Studies of children in the context of forensic/investigative interviews where children are interviewed by professionals due to concerns that the child has been sexually abused also point to high non-disclosure rates, particularly striking in cases where there is corroborative evidence that abuse has occurred — medical evidence (Lyon, 2007), or confessions from the abuser or videotaped evidence/witness reports (Sjoberg and Lindblad, 2002). Lyon (2007) reported his findings from a review of studies published between 1965 and 1993 of children diagnosed with gonorrhoea where the average disclosure rate among 579 children was 43 per cent (n = 250). Ina study where the evidence for the abuse was available on videotape, children have denied abuse when interviewed by the police (Sjoberg and Lindblad, 2002). In summary, significant numbers of children do not disclose experiences of sexual abuse until adulthood and adult survey results suggest that significant Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Page 28 of 45 161 ‘The rates for immediate disclosure are lower in the adolescent study than in the adult study’ ‘Children who disclose more promptly may be overrepresented in legal samples’ ‘Delays ranging from 20 years to 50 years’ Child Abuse Rev. Vol. 24: 159 169 (2015) DOI: 10.1002/car DOJ-OGR- 00005938