Sandusky Judge Upholds the Truthfulness of Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors
“The Washington Post” published an “Associated Press” report yesterday of significance to all survivors of childhood sexual abuse who are accused of being liars.
It is the common game plan for those who defend perpetrators of childhood sexual abuse to accuse them of being liars out for big bucks and offer as proof of that claim the fact that the child did not immediately run to the police after his or her rape and report it, as if any ten year old would have a sophisticated understanding of the criminal justice system, the courage to enter into it, or the emotional maturity to confront the horror which had just been inflicted on his or her body.
It appears that the lawyers for Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted of dozens of crimes on ten boys at Penn State University, argued after his conviction that his crimes should be set aside because the jury had failed to be informed about the amount of time it took for the victims to go to the authorities. The passage of time would be evidence that these children were liars, they argued.
To his credit, Pennsylvania Judge John Cleland, in a 27 page Order, stated the obvious, from medicine, psychiatry and common sense, and rejected this false attack on the truthfulness of the victims of Jerry Sandusky.
Judge Cleland stated that “No one who has had the slightest experience with child sexual abuse or given a whit of thought to its dynamics could conclude that failure to make a prompt complaint, standing alone, is an accurate indicia of fabrication.”
This legal conclusion should assist survivors in other court cases where their truthfulness is challenged.
The story can be found at –
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/pa-judge-rejects-sanduskys-bid-for-new-abuse-trial-says-defense-had-enough-time-to-prepare/2013/01/30/21ed8082-6b3a-11e2-9a0b-db931670f35d_story.html
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