Child Psychology Exam Prep

Answer: D - Approximately 8% of child sexual abuse cases are considered to be false. There are approximately 200,000 new cases of child sexual abuse that are made in the United States every year. Researchers estimate that 8% of those cases are later found out to be blatantly false allegations. Some of the reasons for these false allegations are custody fights between parents. For example, a mother who wishes to gain full physical custody of her children in a divorce may file a false allegation of the father sexually abusing the children. These types of false allegations can seriously damage a child’s mental health and ruin the life of the accused.