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Avoiding Problems in Child Abuse Interviews and Investigations

  • Chapter
Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract

In 1983 a mother suffering from serious mental illness alleged that Raymond Buckey, a teacher at the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, had molested her 2½-year-old son (Nathan & Snedeker, 2001). The accusations set off a highly publicized investigation and eventually led to the longest-running criminal trial in United States history. Based on accusations by dozens of children, Buckey, his mother Peggy, and five other preschool workers were charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse. Many children claimed that they had been forced to participate in bizarre events, such as being spirited into tunnels below the school to carry out satanic rituals. Eventually, Raymond and Peggy Buckey were acquitted by a jury and charges against the other defendants were dropped. At the Buckeys’ trial their attorneys presented video-recorded interviews of the alleged victims. Jurors later stated that these recordings, which showed interviewers questioning the children in a highly suggestive manner, heavily influenced their verdict to acquit.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intelligence and National Security Studies, National Security Studies Institute, University of Texas at El Paso, Kelly Hall, 500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX, 79968, USA

    Misty C. Duke

  2. Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus, GA, USA

    Elizabeth R. Uhl

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK, Canada, S4S 0A2

    Heather Price

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX, 79968, USA

    James M. Wood

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  1. Misty C. Duke
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  2. Elizabeth R. Uhl
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  3. Heather Price
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  4. James M. Wood
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Correspondence to Misty C. Duke .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nevada , Department of Psychology, RENO, Nevada, USA

    William T. O'Donohue

  2. Department of Psychology, Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA

    Matthew Fanetti

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Duke, M.C., Uhl, E.R., Price, H., Wood, J.M. (2016). Avoiding Problems in Child Abuse Interviews and Investigations. In: O'Donohue, W., Fanetti, M. (eds) Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21097-1_12

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