Law Commons^™

48. Valence, Implicated Actor, And Children's Acquiescence To False Suggestions, Kyndra C. Cleveland, Jodi A. Quas, Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

New Wave In Children’S Suggestibility Research: A Critique , Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

No abstract provided.

Relevance Ratio: Evaluating The Probative Value Of Expert Testimony In Child Sexual Abuse Cases , Thomas D. Lyon, Jonathan J. Koehler

Thomas D. Lyon

No abstract provided.

Regulating Sex: An Anthology Of Commentaries On The Findings And Recommendations Of The Badgley And Fraser Reports, John Lowman, Margaret Jackson, Ted Palys, Shelley Gavigan

Shelley A. M. Gavigan

"This anthology contains 12 papers that explain and critique Canada's Badgley and Fraser Reports, which present research findings and recommendations pertaining to the definition and regulation of sexual behavior and sexual imagery in Canadian society. The opening paper reviews the Federal Government's formal reaction to the reports it commissioned, including an overview of the reports and a summary and evaluation of existing sexual-offense legislation. A paper by a member of the Badgley Committee discusses major criticisms of the report, and a paper by a member of the Fraser Committee describes the philosophy and procedures of the committee. Critiques of the …

Ontario College Of Teachers Cases Of Teacher Sexual Misconduct, Taryn Mototsune

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Teacher sexual misconduct in Ontario was examined by using cases reviewed by the Ontario College of Teachers between 2000 and 2013. Despite the impetus by key stakeholders to develop appropriate policies to circumvent teacher-student sexual relationships, this phenomenon is still not well understood. The current study found that around 92 percent of perpetrators are men. The results indicate that male perpetrators who abuse elementary school-aged males are more likely to have multiple victims and longer offending careers. This study found less intrusive sexual behaviour, fewer multiple victim perpetrators, and shorter offending careers in more recent cases. This suggests that the …

A Dangerous Direction: Legal Intervention In Sexual Abuse Survivor Therapy, Cynthia Grant Bowman, Elizabeth Mertz

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

What Should The Courts Do About Memories Of Sexual Abuse? Toward A Balanced Approach, Cynthia Grant Bowman, Elizabeth Mertz

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

The Manipulation Of Legal Remedies To Deter Suits By Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Cynthia Grant Bowman

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Support For Juvenile Sex Offender Registry Laws: Prototypes, Moral Outrage, And Perceived Threat, Margaret C. Stevenson, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Jessica M. Salerno, Tisha R.A. Wiley, Bette L. Bottoms, Katlyn S. Farum

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

We investigated whether and how a juvenile’s history of experiencing sexual abuse affects public perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in a series of 5 studies. When asked about juvenile sex offenders in an abstract manner (Studies 1 and 2), the more participants (community members and undergraduates) believed that a history of being sexually abused as a child causes later sexually abusive behavior, the less likely they were to support sex offender registration for juveniles. Yet when participants considered specific sexual offenses, a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse was not considered to be a mitigating factor. This was true when participants …

Extending Statutes Of Limitations For Victims Of Child Sexual Abuse Based On The Developmental Model And International Law, Rebecca E. Lowe

Rebecca E Lowe

No abstract provided.

Sexual Violence By Educators In South African Schools: Gaps In Accountability, University Of The Witwatersrand. Centre For Applied Legal Studies, Cornell Law School. Avon Global Center For Women And Justice, Cornell Law School. International Human Rights Clinic

Avon Global Center for Women and Justice and Dorothea S. Clarke Program in Feminist Jurisprudence

In many South African schools, educators have sexually harassed and abused the learners in their care. This serious human rights violation is widespread and well known. However, its actual incidence is difficult to determine as many cases of educator-learner abuse are never reported. Such harassment and abuse – which occurs with frequency not only in South Africa but also worldwide – has devastating consequences for the health and education of the learners, mainly girls, who experience it. Over the past decade, South Africa has adopted important laws and policies to address this grave human rights problem, yet sexual violence persists …

Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Teens, Tamieka Meadows, Alexis Kennedy

McNair Poster Presentations

This research explores whether commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) abuse drugs or face greater histories of abuse than their delinquent peers. This research will evaluate whether girls who are CSEC victims experience more abuse of drugs or experience more physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. The study also explores whether CSEC victims witnessed more abuse than non-CSEC victims. A survey of needs and issues facing delinquent girls was given to 130 girls between the ages of 13 to 18. Questions asked about their drug use, abuse history, and whether they witnessed abuse. This research found that many girls who are CSEC …

30. Facilitating Maltreated Children's Use Of Emotional Language., Elizabeth C. Ahern, Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

Reforming Mandated Reporting Laws After Sandusky, Starla J. Williams

Starla J. Williams

This article explores the intersection of poverty, power, and privilege in the child protection system that contributed to the child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University. The article first reviews the facts underlying the case of former Penn State football coach Gerald A. Sandusky, who was convicted on forty-five counts of child sexual abuse. It also offers insight into the actions of former University leaders whose nondisclosure and active roles in the cover up of child sexual abuse resulted in disgrace to one of the nation’s premier college athletic programs. Next, the article considers the irony in the failure …

Sex Play In Virtual Worlds, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Robin Fretwell Wilson

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Chemical Castration For Perpetrators Of Sex Offenses Against Children: Following California's Lead, Peter J. Gimino Iii

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

"They Are Destroying Our Futures": Sexual Violence Against Girls In Zambia's Schools, Women And Law In Southern Africa Trust-Zambia, Cornell Law School. Avon Global Center For Women And Justice, Cornell Law School. International Human Rights Clinic

Avon Global Center for Women and Justice and Dorothea S. Clarke Program in Feminist Jurisprudence

This report examines the problem of sexual violence against girls in Zambian schools. In Zambia, many girls are raped, sexually abused, harassed, and assaulted by teachers and male classmates. They are also subjected to sexual harassment and attack while travelling to and from school. Such abuse is a devastating and often overlooked manifestation of the gender-based violence that occurs in numerous settings in Zambia and other countries throughout the world.

This report explores these issues from an international human rights perspective, drawing upon extensive desk research and interviews with 105 schoolgirls and many other stakeholders in Zambia’s Lusaka Province. The …

Clergy, Sex And The American Way, Raymond C. O'Brien

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Predators And Propensity: The Proper Approach For Determining The Admissibility Of Prior Bad Acts Evidence In Child Sexual Abuse Prosecutions, Basyle Tchividjian

Faculty Publications and Presentations

PREDATORS AND PROPENSITY: THE PROPER APPROACH FOR DETERMINING THE ADMISSIBILITY OF PRIOR BAD ACTS EVIDENCE IN CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PROSECUTIONS

Basyle J. Tchividjian†

Abstract

The admissibility of prior bad act evidence in child sexual abuse prosecutions oftentimes makes the difference between a guilty and not guilty verdict. Recently, jurisdictions have growingly embraced the admission of such evidence for the purpose of establishing the defendant’s propensity to sexually victimize children. Due to the potentially high prejudicial effect of admitting propensity evidence, it is more critical than ever that courts carefully apply the decisive evidentiary gatekeeper, the probative value balancing test …

Courtroom Discussions About Children's Sexual Abuse: An Examination Of Prior Conversations About Disclosures, Non-Disclosures And Perpetrator Statements To Children About Abuse, Stacia N. Stolzenberg

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the content of courtroom conversations about children's prior discussions regarding sexual abuse. Sixty felony child abuse trial transcripts including child testimony and reviewing court opinions were collected from the Court of Appeal and from court reporters. Information was obtained from under Section 288 of the California Penal code (sexual abuse of a child under 14 years of age) filed in Los Angeles County from 1997 to 2001. For this study, transcript testimony was transcribed, extracted for the necessary information, coded, assessed for reliability, and analyzed. The findings indicate that conversations about children's prior disclosure conversations, non-disclosure conversations, …

Child Sexual Abuse In Custody And Visitation Disputes: Problems, Progress, And Prospects, Susan Romer

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment will focus on cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse made during divorce proceedings or during post-judgment custody and visitation disputes. California law is the primary focus. New York cases, statutes and procedures are compared and contrasted. The Comment first discusses studies of the veracity of allegations of sexual abuse arising in custody and visitation cases. Secondly, it addresses the methods used in the investigation and assessment of child sexual abuse charges. Finally, it explores which court is best able to decide these cases.

Raising The Standard For Expert Testimony: An Unwarranted Obstacle In Proving Claims Of Child Sexual Abuse In Dependency Hearings, Matthew J. Dulka

Golden Gate University Law Review

This comment will examine the Amber B. court's decision to characterize evidence provided by the mental health professionals as scientific evidence and not as expert opinion. Secondly, this comment will explore the desirability of imposing the scientific evidence standard, usually applied in criminal cases, to dependency hearings. Finally, this comment will discuss the implications of the Amber B. decision in light of the already present evidentiary difficulties of proving child sexual abuse claims and the social policy of protecting the welfare of the abused child.

Survey: Women And California Law, Alan Black, Katherine Hardy

Golden Gate University Law Review

This survey of California law, a regular feature of the Women's Law Forum, summarizes recent California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions of special importance to women. A brief analysis of the issues pertinent to women raised in each case is provided.

Child Sexual Abuse In California: Legislative And Judicial Responses, Robert Mertens

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment focuses on recent and proposed changes in California law that have occurred as a result of our "discovering" that thousands of children in this state are sexually abused each year. The majority of laws enacted will undoubtedly benefit the children who come in contact with the courts. However, a well-developed body of legislative and common law has been forged over the past century in California and should not be improvidently discarded. Many of the evidentiary issues relating to child molestation cases have been addressed by both the legislature and the courts over the years. Perhaps the true test …

The First Complaint: An Approach To The Admission Of Child-Hearsay Statements Under The Alaska Rules Of Evidence, John J. Gochnour

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting “Any Child:” The Use Of The Confidential Marital Communications Privilege In Child Molestation Cases, Naomi Goodno

Naomi Harlin Goodno

Imagine a grandmother who wants to testify in a criminal trial that her husband confessed to her that he molested their two-year old grandson, but she is prevented from doing so. This is a true example of how a defendant can invoke the confidential martial communications privilege. Federal courts and half of the state legislatures have created exceptions to the confidential martial communications privilege in narrow situations. If a defendant has committed a crime against “the child of either” spouse, or against a “child residing in the home,” then the defendant cannot bar testimony based on the confidential marital communications …

Kidnapped From That Land Ii: A Comparison Of Two Raids To Save The Children From Polygamy, Linda F. Smith

Linda F. Smith

In the spring on 2008 America watched as over 400 children were removed from their polygamist parents on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in rural west Texas. That raid was eerily reminiscent of the Short Creek Raid of 1953, meant to rescue the children from the same polygamist group in Arizona and Utah. This article compares and contrasts the two raids in light of changes to child protection law in the intervening years. Despite advances in our understanding of child development and in our respect for constitutional rights, the Texas raid repeated and compounded the mistakes of the Short Creek …

Sex Play In Virtual Worlds, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Kennedy And The Tail Of Minos, J. Richardson Broughton

Louisiana Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Crooked Picture: Re-Framing The Problem Of Child Sexual Abuse, Eric S. Janus

Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses the problem of ending child sexual abuse using an allegory explaining that certain types of punitive solutions as solving the river "downstream", or in problem-solving mode, as opposed to "upstream", or in prospective problem avoidance. The thesis of this brief article is that our public policy is focused too far downstream. We rightly condemn child sexual abuse, but our public discourse frames the issue in a way that misdirects our public policy towards downstream solutions. If we truly want to protect our children from sexual abuse and end the cycle of violence, we need to reframe the …