(THIRD AND FINAL POST OF TEXT FILE CAPTA.TXT DOWNLOADABLE FROM NCMC BBS (601) 
840 4752, FidoNet 1:114/74)
 
(CONTINUED)
     As is well known, statistics can easily be manipulated, especially in
the realms of child sex abuse. A typical "statistic" is one in which an
organization states that X percent of its evaluations prove "unfounded." The 
attempt here is to prove that the agency is being unbiased and it is equally 
receptive to an "unfounded" as well as a "founded" conclusion. The problem 
here is that many of the "founded" cases involve innocent individuals whose 
child accusers have been subjected to the aforementioned coercive interview 
techniques. From the point of view of the innocent person who has been found 
guilty because of such techniques it does not matter whether the founded 
group represents even one percent of all the accused. From that person's 
point of view he (she) has been falsely accused and even imprisoned. 
Accordingly, the percentages of those investigations and evaluations that are 
founded vs. unfounded is totally unrelated to the problems we are dealing 
with here.
 
     As mentioned, full repeal of CAPTA would be a terrible mistake.  First,
purely from the political point of view, it would suggest to the public that
the Committee has no sympathy for sexually abused children.  The overzealous
and naive people who have contributed so significantly to the problem with
which we are dealing here have waved this banner continually.  The facts are
that there are indeed hundreds of thousands--and possibly millions--of
children who are being abused and neglected and we are morally obligated to
provide them with protection, etc. However, there are also thousands (we will 
never know how many thousands) of individuals who have been falsely accused 
of sexual abuse. CAPTA can protect these people as well.
 
The implementation of these changes into CAPTA will result in a moratorium on 
federal fundings at this point. Only when the states have demonstrated that 
they have complied with these provisions will federal funding again be
considered.  The implementation of these proposals should ensure protection
for truly abused children as well as those alleged perpetrators who might be
falsely accused. It would also save the federal government money, both
because there would be fewer false accusations as well as a moratorium on
federal funding pending the implementation of these proposals--especially the 
review of cases of those convicted of child abuse. The complete repeal of 
CAPTA will dump the whole CAPTA problem in the laps of the 50 different
states.  If this happens, the likelihood of quality reform would be small and 
the chances of perpetuation of a system gone amuck almost inevitable--at 
least during the next few years.
 
                                   Sincerely,
 
                                   Richard A. Gardner, M.D.
                                   Clinical Professor of Child
                                   Psychiatry
                                   Columbia University
                                   College of Physicians and Surgeons
 
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