An analysis of intentionally false reports of child sexual abuse in the U.S.

Among the millions of child maltreatment reports made to child protective services across the U.S., a small percentage are made by individuals who knowingly submit a false report. Particularly egregious are intentionally... [ view full abstract ]

Among the millions of child maltreatment reports made to child protective services across the U.S., a small percentage are made by individuals who knowingly submit a false report. Particularly egregious are intentionally false reports of child sexual abuse (CSA).
The purpose of this paper is to describe an analysis of intentionally false reports of CSA made in the US between the years 2005-2010. Good faith and intentionally false reports of CSA were compared on the percentage of CSA reports in each group, demographic variables of the alleged child victim and the report source.
Initial comparisons revealed that the rate of reports of CSA in the intentionally false reports group was nearly double the number of reports of sexual abuse made in the good faith reports group. Slightly more males and fewer females were involved in false reports of CSA. Children involved in intentionally false reports were slightly younger than those in good faith reports. Fewer African American and more White children were involved in false reports of CSA. There were fewer Hispanic children involved in false reports of CSA. Additionally, children involved in false reports of CSA were less likely to have been prior victims of maltreatment.
Additional analyses indicated that although the majority of false reports of CSA came from non-mandated reporters, forty-three percent of intentionally false reports of CSA came from professionals legally mandated to report suspected child maltreatment.
Although these data cannot be construed as representative of all intentionally false reports made in the US each year, these results raise some serious issues. Questions about the nearly double rate CSA in intentionally false reports compared to reports made in good faith, and the finding that nearly half came from legally mandated reporters, should be the focus of future research.