Part 1 of 4
                             Public Consultation
                     Violence and Abuse within the Family:
                            The Neglected Issues
                         June 9,1995 & June 10,1995
 
                                  Transcript
                                    of the
                                 Presentation
                                      by
                Dr. Ian Begg, Pschologist, Department of Psychologist,
                         McMaster University, Hamilton
 
        Good Afternoon.
        Now Let me start off by saying that I can't imagine anything more
        horribl than abusing a child, and there is a lot more around than
        perhaps we used to think, We may have insulated ourselves against
        those beliefs, but that doesn't mean that everybody accused of
        sexual abuse did it, even though court, or public opinions believe
        that where there is smoke, there is fire.
 
        I have sat in hockey dressing rooms when someone mentions a person
        is charged with molesting a child. Soon after somebody else will
        say "I would like to be alone with that b*stard for two minutes",
        and everyone else will nod and say "me too". My gut reacts the same
        way, but that doesn't make the accusations true.
 
        In her book, "The Myth of Repressed Memory" Elizabeth Walker
        recounts the case of Kerr Sutherland. He was acquitted of charges
        of molesting children at his daycare center, but he was shot to
        death at his house after shouting "but I didn't do it".
 
        For the last ten years we have seen our jails filled with persons
        charged with abusing children. AND NOW WE ARE SEEING COURTS OF
        APPEAL TRIPPING ALL OVER THEMSELVES TO REVERSE THOSE DECISIONS.
 
        For the people who are familiar with the "little rascals case" from
        Eatington, North Carolina, of McMartin of the Fatal Tunnels, the
        California Kelly Michaels case, and our good Saskatchewan
        Martensville case as well, THERE IS A SIMPLE QUESTION HERE: WHAT
        THE HELL IS GOING ON?  Why are all these people who apparently have
        a solid community reputation, suddenly appearing to have committed
        the most heinous crime you can ever imagine. The satanic cults, the
        cannabilised babies they have well hidden in tunnels under day care
        centers, they dress up as star wars characters while they abuse
        children in the day care centre. Frankly, IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP AND
        PUT AN END TO THE NONSENSE....WE CAN'T PRETEND THAT EVERY
        ACCUSATION IS THE TRUTH, TO PRETEND SO IS ITSELF A LIE.
 
        I am going to focus on accusations that a family member, usually a
        father, abused his child, usually but not exclusively his daughter.
        We have all heard horror stories about false accusations during
        custody disputes.
 
        There is the recent case about Jeanette Harris who is a juror in
        the OJ Simpson trial, who admitted to making false accusations of
        domestic violence and marital rape during a custody dispute. In a
        telvised interview she said, and I quote " I have never been a
        victim of domestice abuse". Why did she say that she was? Her anwer
        was "IT WAS JSUT A PART OF THE CUSTODY DISPUTE, NOBODY BELIEVED
        THAT".
 
        Let me outline to specific American cases to put a face on these
        false accusations; in both, it was fathers who were wrongly accused
        to abusing their children. In the course of it, you will see that
        there are some mental health professional, in this case a
        pychologist and a social worker, who have let their desire to
        protect children, override their professional judgement.
 
        So first meet Rebenzi, who is an associate of a Colorado
        Psychologist. Rebenzi reported to county officials that a father
        had abused his daughter, The mother had previously reported the
        abuse to the social worker who had investigated and had found no
        evidence to support the accusation, so then the mother went to
        Rebenzi. Rebenzi interviewed the child and concluded from the
        child's body language that the child had been abused. She refused
        to speak to the child's father. The social worker pointed out the
        inconsistency between what the child had told Rebenzi and what the
        child had told the social worker. Rebenzi shrugged it off and when
        the psychologist raised doubts about the childs story, Rebenzi
        shrugged that off too. Then a court appointed psychologist found
        that the child confused fantasy with reality and that Rebenzi's
        techniques were questionable. At that point, even with all that
        information in hand, Rebenzi testified under oath that she had no
        doubt that the child had been abused.
 
        NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE LOVE OUR CHILDREN WE HAVE TO RECOGNISE THAT
        CHILDREN CAN CONFUSE FACTS WITH FANATASY AND CHILDREN ARE EXTREMELY
        SUGGESTIBLE.
 
        Secondly meet Bryd, the Texas psychologist. Bryd had no previous
        experience in child sexual abuse. Bryd spent ten minutes with the
        child and conducted no tests; and then swore in an affidavit that
        the boy had been repeatedly sexually abused by his father. The
        father was the legal custodian who had left the boy with his mother
        for a time. When he returned to Texas to obtain his son, he was
        arrested. The court appointed experts concluded that the father had
        not abused his son, and all charges were dropped. Bryd had never
        even talked to the father.
 
continued.....
 
... If this goes on....
--- DB 1.58/004910
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