Website Information Updates - Cowling Investigations, Inc.

The purpose of my website is very simple. It was designed and provided to assist those individuals who have been falsely accused of child abuse and who are unable to afford the services of a professional. My website is not "fancy" and it was not intended to be. It simply consists of information that I have provided and will continue to provide. The information supplied on our webpages is thorough. It is not simply short or brief summaries followed by a request that you pay us for the rest. Unfortunately, I am not able to provide pro bono (without pay) services, so this website is my attempt to assist and educate anyone who has been falsely accused of child abuse. If anyone is considering retaining our services, please contact my office at (601) 824-1774.

This update page is provided in an effort to identify current notes and our latest webpages. For a listing of our most popular webpages, see Our Most Popular Accessed Webpages.

Convicted of Child Sexual Abuse? For issues concerning the sentencing hearing, the attorney's client file and the Court's file, see Post Conviction Issues to Consider.
Understanding What Happens at Trial. We have combined out latest pages dealing with trial and a child's testimony here. see Critical Trial Issues.
Charged with Child Sexual Abuse? What can Happen? - For a short synopsis of various possibilities, see What can Happen when Charged with Child Sexual Abuse.
Can a real defense to false allegation of child abuse be prepared by someone who reads a few documents, then attempts to assess the situation over the telephone? No, it cannot. It may seem like an appealing and a less expensive alternative, but it usually ends in disaster. After recently receiving a telephone call from a family who just had their son convicted of child sexual abuse and are awaiting his sentencing, I asked them several very simple questions:
- Was your son represented by a paid attorney or a public defender. "We paid a lawyer to represent him."
- How did you find, then decide on the attorney that represented your son? "He was referred to us by an expert we found on the internet who told us they knew attorneys all over the country that specialized in defending sexual abuse cases."
- Did you use the expert you consulted with and who referred you to your attorney for other work? "Yes." "They asked us to send them whatever paperwork we had on the case." "We got a police report and some notes where they interviewed the child from our attorney and sent them." "They reviewed those documents, then told us to listen to our attorney."
- You said you got interview notes from your attorney and sent them to your expert. Was there a forensic interview tape made and, if so, did either your attorney or your expert recommend that a qualified expert analyze the interview? "No." "We were never told anything about any tape."
- How long after your son's arrest did the defense obtain discovery? "What is discovery?" "We never saw anything other than a police report and some interview notes that we sent to an expert for their opinion."
- What experts did the defense use in defending your son? "He did not use any." "He said the Court would not allow any of them anyway."
- Was anything done by the defense to establish the mental state of your son and to assist in preparing him for trial, like having him meet with a mental health professional? "No, that was never discussed."
- Did your son testify? "No, the attorney told him he did not want him to testify because it was too dangerous."
- What was the reaction of the jury when the child testified? "Some of them cried and all of them were very upset."
- How long did the jury deliberate before returning a verdict? "Just under 2 hours."
- How many counts was your son charged with? "14 and they found him guilty of all of them."
I see the above time and again. Experts working for an accused who never meet them and have no idea as to their personality, mental shape or ability to testify properly. If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times - the accused is, and must be, the star of the show and the real issue is "getting them ready." You can bet the prosecution is getting the accusing child ready. You cannot prepare an accused by going over documents and "guessing" as to what is best for them. This is exactly why I "meet" my clients in person. Only then can I ever consider strategy and a proper defense. Shortcuts seem great until a jury says "Guilty" and a family is then left trying to put the pieces of their lives back together.
Think carefully about everything before deciding to take a plea - As I have previously stated on this website, I have known many people who were innocent, but took a plea because it was the least traumatic of the decisions they were faced with and, at the time, it seemed like the proper thing to do. Usually, within 6 months to a year, after they had time to think about it and after they realized the consequences that went along with it, only then did they understand the mistake they had made. Usually, one of the "orders" that accompanies a plea in a child sexual abuse case is the "successful" completion of a "Sex Offender Treatment Program." As you go through the program, in order to "successfully" complete it, you must admit guilt. If you refuse, you will be classified as being in "denial", which will prevent you from "successfully" completing the program. Since you did not "successfully" complete the program, you will be in violation of your probation and possibly sent to prison. For whatever reason, we have had a rash of cases in the last year where people were interested in attempting to get their plea agreements set aside. Many of those we worked with were facing prison because they had, in some manner, violated the terms of their probation; one for drinking beer, one for being around a 15-year-old and one for refusing to admit guilt in a treatment program. Most people we spoke with, whether they were facing prison or not, changed their minds quickly when they found out what was really involved. First, they forfeited all their rights to appeals and any other post-conviction relief when they accepted their plea, so they cannot "appeal" anything. Most, if not all of them, stood before a judge and admitted that they knew and understood exactly what they were doing. But even if the first hurdles were crossed, if the plea is set aside, they would face a trial and a possible conviction. Even as difficult as reversing a conviction is, it is far easier than having a plea set aside, however, under certain circumstances, it can be done. After accepting a plea, many realize their mistake, many would like to change it, and many talk about what they are going to do, but rarely does anyone follow through. I cannot stress this enough - "Know what goes along with a plea and how it can affect your life before you agree to it."
I do not defend child molesters - I never cease to be amazed at what happens in my work. In a case I was recently involved in, I was trashed at trial by the opposing side in an effort to attempt and show that I:
- Train child molesters so they can beat a polygraph.
- Train child molesters so that they can beat the Abel Assessment.
- Train child molesters so that they can beat psychological testing.
- Work for, support and help to defend child molestors or pedophiles.
- Put children at risk because I work for child molesting fathers.
Talk about the acts of desperate people willing to do or say anything to win. Thankfully, their allegations amounted to nothing and their attempt at trashing others only made them less credible. I cannot make anything more clear than this: "I will not work for, assist or defend any person who has hurt a child in any manner, but I will put heart and sole into defending a false allegation of child sexual abuse." I do not, nor am I even capable of training anyone to pass a polygraph test or psychosexual evaluation. Years ago a criminal attorney I worked with told me the following: "If you have the facts, pound the facts." "If you have the evidence, pound the evidence." "If you have neither, just pound." Simply put, when you have no case, just attack everyone in hopes that the "noise you make" will over power the fact that you have nothing. It is such a shame that innocent children are exposed to this type nonsense. In so many custody cases I see, if the professionals were unbiased professionals, honestly looking out for and respecting the rights of all people as opposed to many being "save-the-world child abuse validators," then false allegation cases would be seen for what they truly are - false allegations. Personally, when I am attacked by these histrionic "professionals," it is indeed an honor because it is simply showing that I am doing my job properly by preventing them from " falsely" labeling someone as a "child molester." In this particular case, my client was no more a child molester than he had the ability to sprout wings and fly, but that did not stop the "experts" from doing everything in their power to destroy him and keep him from his children. They failed, however, just for the record, and so there is no misunderstanding, see Polygraph Tests and Psychosexual Evaluations, What I Tell my Clients.
Praise for a father who was falsely accused - I want to take this opportunity to praise and to congratulate a client of mine, a father who has been dealing with child custody issues while facing false allegations of child sexual abuse at the same time. This man deserves praise, admiration and respect beyond words. When I first met him, this man was like so many others I have met who were going through the same circumstances - angry, defensive, combative and attacking anything and everything because the "system" is unfair. Rather than continue on a sure path to destruction, this man analyzed his position and since the love of his children was honestly the most important thing to him, he changed his entire approach. He learned that he could win far more by making the other side "think" he was playing their game while all along, and with a smile on his face, he was setting them up. Because of careful planning and strategy, the "professionals" and the "experts" on the other side of his case, who clearly had an agenda, were unable to reach their goal of having him "assessed" as a child molester and preventing him from seeing his children. It was such a pleasure for me to work with him, see him change, watch him work and see his self-worth and his confidence return to him. I am so thankful for clients like this! They make everything I do worthwhile because they are the rare exception and not the rule. Any mother who would use a false allegation of child sexual abuse in order to gain the upper hand in a custody battle, or as a means of keeping a child's father from seeing them, should be considered an unfit parent. No child will ever be safe or have a normal life when living with either parent who believes that a false allegation of abuse is acceptable in order to win a case. Fathers can win custody, but it takes time, effort, proper strategy, an honest love for their children, and a refusal to allow them to continue to live in an environment where they are being "coached" and "trained" to lie. Unfortunately, many fathers are angry and simply "trying to get even." A father who begins a conversation with, "How much to get my kids?" or, "I'm not going into debt over something like this," simply needs to leave things alone because he is not really interested in the welfare of his children. Make no mistake, finances are an important issue, but when they are the "main" issue, something is seriously wrong. Any father who makes a half-hearted effort in going after custody of his children is usually destined to fail anyway and the problem is that their actions can easily damage the child or children.
An honest and true defense strategy dictates that you dissect everything carefully and thoroughly - I just completed a case where my client was charged with raping a 25-year-old female, a very serious charge. When I was initially contacted by the young man's parents, I was told that his attorney was discussing a plea because of his fear of a conviction based on the evidence against their son. When I met with the family, I was provided with discovery documentation and three audio/video tapes; (1) The girl's outcry to police, (2) A set up telephone call where the accuser was assisted by police in calling my client attempting to get a confession, and (3) My client's interview with the police where he "confessed." Without question, this was the perfect case where the argument, "Dissect Everything Carefully" applied. If you looked at my client's interview with the police, yes, he confessed, but that confession was based strictly on the interviewer leading him. If you looked at the outcry interview the accuser had with the police, "objectively," there were holes in it as big as Texas and if you "scanned" the setup phone call, yes, he was guilty. If, however, you "really" listened to the "entire" setup phone call, there is absolutely no way he was guilty and there were several statements that proved that.
What is a GAL - Guardian ad Litem - A GAL, or Guardian ad Litem, is an individual who is Court appointed to represent the best interest of children in many divorce or child custody cases. For a more detailed explanation, see What is a GAL - Guardian ad Litem.
In he said/she said sexual abuse cases, the accused must testify - This is a clear message that I have been preaching for years, but on occasion there is actually something stronger than the testimony of an accused at trial. I just completed a case where I assisted an attorney as he prepared for trial. His client had been accused of raping a young girl. As I went through all the documents, police reports, etc., based on everything that I was provided with, there was no question that his client was headed straight to a conviction. The last thing I did in my analysis was to review the police interview of the accused, a 5 hour tape. After reviewing the tape, just to make sure that I was correct in what I had seen, I had several others review it and everyone's opinion was the same; He was "not guilty." His interview tape challenged the allegations against him, not only from the accuser, but from the police as well. Based on my conversations with the attorney, he filed a motion to present the interview, in it's entirety, to the jury. His client's testimony at trial could and probably would be problematic. It would never be as spontaneous as it was during his video taped police interview. Obviously, this is a very short synopsis of the case, but in reality, his interview was the only thing that could save him from conviction. The police had him painted as a monster, he has a rough appearance, very little education, and there is no question that his accuser would come across to a jury as a "victim."
Asking the proper questions during jury voir dire is critical to the defense of anyone falsely accused of child abuse - During the past 20 years, I have had the opportunity to assist and consult in various trials throughout the United States and I have been retained in numerous cases to assist in reversing convictions for the falsely accused. A great deal of my education has come from interviewing persons who served on juries that did convict. Shockingly, prior jury members have told me that they voted to convict because the accused did not testify or that the accused showed no emotion or the wrong emotion. Obviously, that point is argued by defense attorneys because they have "warned" juries that they could not hold it against their client if they chose not to testify. My latest warning to the falsely accused comes straight from a current case. Make sure that your defense attorney honestly understands that defending a child sexual abuse case is far different than defending any other type of criminal case. I have a client who was accused of molesting a young girl. He went through an entire trial and during jury deliberations, a member of his jury "suddenly remembered" that they had been molested as a child. Sounds absurd, but it happened and it resulted in a mistrial. The real question is, who's fault was is that it went all the way to jury deliberations before the issue arose? It was actually a combination of the Court, the prosecutor and most especially the defense attorney. As I was going through the trial transcript, the first thing I noticed and commented on was that during jury voir dire, no one even asked members of the jury panel if any of them had ever been molested, or if they had a family member or friend who had been. The problem with failing to ask that question is, you could wind up with someone on the jury who was molested and wants to convict as a means of dealing with ghosts in their own past. A proper and thorough jury voir dire is critical to a successful defense and also equally important is to carefully observe the entire panel during voir dire to determine any visible reactions they may have based on the questions they are asked. A criminal attorney with no experience in handling child sexual abuse cases will simply ask the "standard" voir dire questions and they are not adequate in these cases. For a list of some prospective questions, see the "Jury Voir Dire" section of Defending the Falsely Accused at Trial.
One of the most critial areas that needs to be worked with and unfortunately the one that usually gets over looked the most is the emotional status of the accused. An untreated depression can easily result in an innocent person being convicted in a child sex abuse case. See Dealing with Emotions when Falsely Accused.
In recent years, I have had multiple cases where a father is going through divorce or custody, allegations of abuse have been made against him, and art or play therapy has been used to support the credibility of a sexual abuse allegation from a child as young as 3 years of age. See Fathers and False Allegations.
A falsely accused father and the professionals involved in his case - On rare occasions I see professionals become angry and frustrated when they anticipate something during a case and it fails to materialize, but only once have I seen "experts" totally "out-of-control" simply because their "plan" to destroy a father with a false allegation of child sexual abuse blew up in their face. In their frustration, these "professionals" attacked me personally by making statements that I train people to "beat" a polygraph and to "beat" a psychosexual evaluation. Nothing could be farther from the truth, but even more amazing was the fact that they did internet searches asking, "How to Protect Children from Allen Cowling." I do "not" represent, assist or help anyone that I believe has hurt a child in any manner, but I am very passionate about proving that a false allegation is false. I never cease to be amazed at some of the "experts" I encounter who are willing to destroy the very children they "claim" they are protecting. The reality is, there is nothing that you could say or present to these people that would have any effect. They ignore everything that does not support their desire to save the world and you cannot rationalize with an irrational person.
In the past 3 years, I have run into several cases where individuals have been indicted for sexual abuse crimes against children and had the State refuse to provide the defense's expert with a copy of the forensic interview tapes in their case. This can be very problematic to a defense. See Some States Refuse to Supply Defendants with Forensic Interviews in Child Sexual Abuse Cases.
In custody cases or even criminal cases, if you petition the Court for an evaluation of all parties involved, will you get the right evaluator? Here is a perfect example where the wrong evaluator was chosen in a case and the potential damage that may have been caused. See Selecing the Right Child Evaluator in any Case Where Sexual Abuse Allegations Have been Made.
One of our most frequently asked questions is how to handle a child who recanted their allegation of sexual abuse following a conviction. Based on that question, see Handling a Child that Recants an Allegation of Sexual Abuse Following a Trial and a Conviction.
The second most frequently asked question I get requires only a short and a simple response. There are no scientifically recognized or accepted symptoms or characteristics of a child molester or a molested child. Many times a prosecutor will have a therapist testify that a child has the symptoms of a molested child. That is improper testimony and, when properly objected to by the defense, it would be considered reversable error on appeal should that testimony be allowed. The defense need only to ask the therapist on cross, "Explain what the symptoms are." then, "Are you saying that being molested is the only thing that would cause those symptoms?"
Our main objective when we are assisting a client who has been falsely accused of molesting a child is to attempt and resolve the matter before criminal charges are filed, or if it does become criminal and the client is forced to defend themselves at trial, we want to assure that they are properly prepared to defend. With that in mind, one of the most important assets and tools we have to work with when preparing a case is the client themselves. Depending on our client's intelligence and personality, we may have multiple opportunities to assist us in their defense. One perfect example would be our client agreeing to interviews with law enforcement or family services. Some attorneys advise their clients not to talk to anyone and some allow their clients to be interviewed as long as they are present. Over the past 20 years, I have had many cases where we have used a specific interview strategy successfully and I am now sharing that at Our Procedure when Dealing with Family Services and the Police in False Allegation Cases.
About 25% of the work I do is for individuals who have been convicted based on a false allegation of abuse. Based on that, I have had the opportunity to speak with people all over the country who have served on juries where they have convicted individuals. Shockingly, in asking "why" they convicted, the number one answer was, "They did not testify." The number two response was, "They showed no emotion, or they showed the wrong emotion." Both these responses are shocking in that defense attorneys spend so much time explaining to a jury that they cannot hold it against their client for not taking the stand, and in telling their clients not to show emotion.
If you have been charged with felony child abuse and are preparing for trial, are you being represented properly by your attorney? See Is Your Attorney Honestly Defending You?.