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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 397-2 Disclosure Patterns in Child Sexual Abuse other family issues addressed in the aftermath of disclosure and where peers play an important role. Studies have confirmed the importance of professionals asking children and young people in a sensitive, open manner about possible experiences of abuse using non-leading questioning styles to minimise inaccurate accounts or contaminate children’s narratives. It is clearly important for professionals to remain open to the possibility of abuse and further disclosure. It is equally important for professionals to be able to avoid persisting with questioning those children who are ‘reluctant disclosers’. Similarly, professionals engaged with children in therapeutic work need to be open to the possibility of both initial and further disclosures. Contradiction in witness statements is a well-known feature of false statements and giving additional detail to original formal statements can be interpreted within child protection, therapeutic and legal contexts as a contradiction of an earlier account. Listening to children’s accounts of their experiences of disclosure helps us understand why it is that disclosure can be delayed and that when they do feel ready to tell this is not an ‘all or nothing’ decision. As one young person in Staller and Nelson-Gardell’s (2005) study noted, ‘it’s never finished, never’ p. 1426. This understanding in turn helps us identify those circumstances and reactions that may encourage the child to disclose. The importance of asking children questions, thus giving them an opportunity to tell, has been identified. While parents, teachers and those in daily contact with children are often reluctant to question children, it is clear that many children do not disclose unless given this opportunity. Education and increased awareness are needed on how to question children in an appropriate manner. McElvaney (2008) noted that questions did not need to be about sexual abuse per se, but rather questions prompted by the young person’s psychological distress, asking after the young people’s wellbeing. This questioning in effect acted as an external pressure for the young person to tell his/her secret (McElvaney ef al., 2012), In Ungar et al.’s (2009a) study of Canadian youth, they found that young people used a range of disclosure strategies ranging from less direct strategies (such as risk-taking behaviours, not talking about the abuse) to direct strategies (such as seeking support from peers, turning to non-professional adult supports, disclosing to formal service providers), representing a process that relied heavily on others to ‘build the bridges between the youth and formal care providers’ (p. 352). The tendency to delay disclosing and the partial nature of many disclosures are not conducive to successful legal investigations and prosecutions. In addition, the knowledge base that exists within the legal sphere is limited if only a percentage of the children who experience sexual abuse engage with this system. The disproportionately high ‘immediate disclosure’ rate found in Goodman-Brown ef al.’s (2003) legal sample compared to Kogan’s (2004) community sample raises the question of the representation of delayed disclosers in the legal system. Are children who delay in disclosing less likely to engage with the legal system? Are delays in disclosing contributing to decisions not to prosecute child sexual abuse crimes? In Ireland, the 1990s saw a significant increase in the numbers of complainants coming before the courts reporting experiences of childhood sexual abuse. Many of these cases were referred to the higher courts for judicial review proceedings to establish whether the cases could proceed without prejudicing the accused given the Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Filed 10/29/21 Page 32 of 45 165 ‘Contradiction in witness statements is a well-known feature of false statements’ ‘Education and increased awareness are needed on how to question children in an appropriate manner’ ‘Are children who delay in disclosing less likely to engage with the legal system?’ Child Abuse Rev. Vol. 24: 159 169 (2015) DOI: 10.1002/car DOJ-OGR-00005942