Handling a Child Recanting an Allegation of Sexual Abuse

An accuser who recants an allegation of sexual abuse following a trial is not all that uncommon, but it is very rare that it will actually result in reversing a conviction because normally the recant is not handled properly. More often than not, a child will recant, then because of various pressures, they will return to their original allegation. For example, say the accuser was a 15-year old girl, the trial had been conducted 5 years earlier, the accused had been convicted and he had been in prison for the past 5 years. The girl then recants her allegation and a motion is filed to have the conviction reversed based on her new statement. Well, the accuser can depend on a visit from the prosecutor or from the police and they can also expect things to get ugly. Let's say her visit is from the prosecutor for the sake of our discussion. The prosecutor will tell the girl, "Okay, you are now saying you lied at trial and that you were never molested?" The accuser responds, "Yes." The prosecutor comes back with, "Well, either at trial or now, you are committing perjury" "Do you understand that perjury is a crime and that you could be convicted and sent to prison yourself?" The accuser usually backs up quickly. They were not prepared for that approach. Suddenly, what they were doing that they believed was right is now affecting their own freedom and, believe it or not, most accusers will immediately revert to their original allegation.

There are other problems to consider as well. As a perfect example I worked for a family in North Carolina whose son had been convicted based on an allegation of child sexual abuse. They had an attorney working on their son's post conviction relief at the time that I was retained, but the family wanted to assure themselves that everything that could be done was being done.

Several weeks after I got involved we found out that the child accuser had recanted her allegation to a girl that she worked with. Needless to say, the family was thrilled because their attorney told them that was "all they needed" to get their son's conviction reversed.

My advise to the family was, take a deep breath, be patient and let's nail everything down. Unfortunately, their attorney was ready to take immediate action as he felt that he had everything he needed just because the girl recanted. According to the attorney, there simply was no reason to spend more money on the case when he already had what he needed.

At that point in the case, the appeal had already been filed and the State had affirmed the conviction, but they were still in "Post Conviction Relief," so the attorney prepared and filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. Unfortunately for that family, that petition was denied. The Court refused to reverse the conviction, or really even give the accuser's recanted statement any credibility. The Court stated that, "Years after she testified at trial and the accused had been convicted, she came forward stating that she had lied at trial and that the defendant had never abused her." "There was nothing presented other than her recanted statement to support that the accused was not guilty and it is highly possible that either the accuser simply felt sorry for the accused since he has spent so many years in prison, or that the family of the accused or someone else may have coerced her."

The point was, they had everything they needed to put together a proper case and argument to accompany the accuser's statement, they just did not think that was necessary since the accuser had changed her story.

So, considering the above, what does work? I have had quite a few cases like these where I have either been directly involved, or where I have simply consulted, but no matter what the case, I always recommend the following:

Whenever I learned that an accuser has recanted, I realized that the situation was very delicate and that the accuser could easily revert back to their original allegation, so I handled the matter with kid gloves. Many times an accuser will recant to friends, but will freeze and deny it if they are approached by others. Find out who the accuser recanted to, exactly what was said and then determine a method of approaching the accuser without forcing, or backing them into a corner.
The first thing I work toward is arranging a meeting between me and the accuser. That can take time because you have to find a way, usually working through others, to have the accuser agree to the meeting without panicking and possibly changing their story.
When I am finally able to meet with the accuser, I assure that what is being said is consistent with what they have told others and I make absolutely sure that I have a recording of the entire conversation.
Once the accuser is comfortable with talking to me, I get them to go into complete detail about their original allegation, why they made it, where they got the information they used in making it and who may have influenced them into making it. This can be very tricky because many accusers were actually influenced by someone else, but will be afraid to admit that or to identify the person who was actually behind the allegation.
A recanted allegation is a very serious issue and a person's conviction could be set aside because of it, so there is no room for shortcuts or mistakes. In my cases, I meet with the accuser several times, assure that I have good recorded interviews from each meeting, attempt to address any fears they may have and I educate them as to the reality of what may be ahead of them.
Once I have made the accuser comfortable, I locate a professional psychologist, one that I am sure has credibility with the local Courts, then I have the accuser meet with them and have them explain in detail why they lied and what their lie was. That psychologist can work with the accuser in the event that all Hades does break loose once the prosecutor or police find out what is going on. Also, it may be harder for the accuser to revert back to their initial allegation once they have admitted everything to a professional therapist.
Both the psychologist and I work with the accuser to make them fully aware that when the police and the prosecutor do find out, their main attack will be to threaten the accuser with perjury and with prison, but prior to the recant actually being used, I have the accuser meet with and talk to an attorney specific as to how to best handle an aggressive prosecutor or detective once the recant has been used. One of the biggest dangers and one thing you want to be very careful of is being fully aware that an accuser who does recant will often, and usually because of pressure, revert back to their original allegation, so prepare for that.
Now, once everything is worked out with the accuser, then I go through the original case with a fine tooth comb, looking for anything and everything that would support that the allegations against the accused were false. That is what you would use to accompany the petition to overturn based on the recanted statements.

Remember, when an accuser does recant in a case where a family has a loved one sitting in prison, it is very easy for that family to want an instant solution and an immediate result. If, however, the accuser is not handled properly and with kid gloves, that same family may end up having to explain to their loved one why they are still sitting in prison after the personal responsible for putting them there admitted that they lied, but then turned around and said their original trial testimony was the truth.