The context for working with alleged abusers

Child sexual assault is a crime that rarely leads to criminal prosecution. A US study of 500 child sexual abuse cases referred for prosecution, over a five year period from 2009 to 2013, found that less than one in five cases proceeded to prosecution and that only half of these cases resulted in a conviction or a guilty plea. There were two key factors impacting the prosecution of these child sexual abuse cases: medical evidence was available in less than 5% of cases and that cases relied heavily on the testimony of a child. (Block and Williams, 2019)

A crime of child sexual abuse is reported to the police but the police may not press charges. The decision to charge the alleged abuser is made very carefully. The decision is based on two things:

• The police need enough evidence to prove in court beyond reasonable doubt that the offence occurred.
• The police have only one opportunity to charge the alleged abuser with a specific count of sexual assault and therefore need to make sure the charges are likely to be proven in court.

Child Safety is able to substantiate harm or risk of harm to a child as a result of sexual abuse without police taking any criminal action when Child Safety believes, based on the assessment of available information, that it is more likely than not that the person sexually abused the child, or is a risk to sexually abuse the child in the future.

Alleged abusers are generally closely connected to children (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). By working with the alleged abuser, we improve children’s safety by:

• understanding the child’s relationship with him and how they view him
• listening for discrepancies between his story and what we know from other sources
• understanding how he is representing the child to others
• understanding how he is representing the concerns to others.

Child protection practitioners require professional supervision when working with an alleged abuser to assist the practitioner in the following ways:

• to reflect upon and manage their emotional responses to the alleged abuser
• to notice, name and navigate the alleged abuser’s use of manipulation or coercive tactics used to intimidate, confuse or create doubt in the practitioner’s professional assessment, and
• to reflect upon their personal values, attitudes and beliefs.

Child protection practitioners work with alleged abusers when establishing safety and assessing the risk of harm to a child. There may be times when practitioners are working with someone who has been substantiated as an alleged person responsible for causing harm to one child and they are assessing the risk he poses to another child. This part will assist practitioners to work with an alleged abuser, assess the risk he poses to the child and gain valuable insight about his relationship with the parent and the child.

Understanding the characteristics of alleged abusers

Current research has focused on assessing the risk that an adult male sex offender (who has been convicted of sexual abuse) will reoffend. This can make it challenging for child protection practitioners to assess the risk posed by an alleged abuser who has not been convicted through the criminal justice system (but who may have been substantiated as a person responsible or had a number of allegations of sexual abuse made about him).

While child sex abuse offenders do not differ significantly from those who sexually assault adults, they do have several characteristics which set them apart from non-sex offenders (Smallbone and Wortley, 2001). Understanding these characteristics can help assess the risk posed by an alleged abuser who may or may not have a conviction for sexual assault.

Alleged abusers are a diverse group of people. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2017) states “There is no typical profile of a person who sexually abuses children” and that “there is often little that distinguishes people who sexually abuse children from the general population, other than their criminal behaviour” (vol. 2, p.94).

Due to the hidden and often secretive presentation of child sexual abuse, no obvious indicators may be present. At times, however, there are certain patterns of behaviour which could indicate that a child might be experiencing sexual abuse. Some of the main behaviours are summarised in the table below.

Understanding female sexual abusers 

While most disclosures of child sexual abuse relate to men, girls and women also sexually abuse children. With females more often the primary carer of children, it may be that female sexual offending is under reported and more difficult to identify.

International studies suggest that female perpetrated sexual abuse against both adults and children accounts for a significant minority of sexual offending. In Australia, the rate is reportedly close to five per cent. However, the actual proportion may be higher. Many victims of sexual abuse by a female feel too embarrassed to tell others, or think they won’t be believed.

Female alleged abusers who sexually abuse children are often marginalised and lonely. They may have experienced abusive childhoods (including sexual abuse), poor attachment to adult caregivers, trauma, intimate partner violence and mental health issues (Ford, 2006; Vandever, 2002). As adults, they experience repeated domestic violence and isolation and may have a co-perpetrator who is participating in the sexual abuse.

An Australian study of 231 psychiatrists, psychologists and child protection workers found that both male and female practitioners described sexual abuse by a female as less damaging and less worthy of professional intervention and criminal prosecution than male perpetrated sexual abuse, which is not the case. Every case of sexual abuse requires an empathic response from professionals that acknowledges and validates the child’s experience.  

Understanding signs of manipulation and coercion 

Experts say…

“In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. Silence and secrecy are the perpetrator’s first lines of defence. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure no one listens.”

- Judith Herman (1997), Author and academic, Professor of psychiatry, Harvard University and psychiatric director at the Women’s Mental Health Collective in Somerville, Massachusetts.

The behaviours below describes common and well-evidenced techniques that may be used by the alleged abuser to deflect and distract the adults who are seeking to keep the child safe. This information is useful for practitioners to reflect on during supervision, discussions with your colleagues, case conferences, and to inform your own critical reflection.

Behaviours by the alleged abuser

Consider whether the alleged abuser is currently or has previously exhibited patterns or occasions of the below behaviour.
Discrediting:

• directly labelling the child or family as dishonest / unreliable
• focusing on the parent’s ‘deficits’ or concerns about their parenting
• focusing on the child’s ‘deficits’ or concerns about their wellbeing
• influencing parents or community members by using language that discredits the child (liar, drama queen, promiscuous)
• denies being responsible for the abuse, while presenting as highly concerned that the child “may be confused about who has sexually abused them”.

Intimidating:

• making direct or subtle threats
• using his power and authority to intimidate
• enlisting others to threaten or intimidate
• making complaints to your manager or colleagues
• discrediting you or your work to community members, other professionals, colleagues.

Complying:

• saying he will work with Child Safety
• making himself indispensable to Child Safety, the parents and other community members.

Denying / minimising:

• saying the allegation is false
• blaming others for the allegation (vindictive)
• suggesting the child has false memories
• providing reasons for why the child is mistaken about the abuse
• suggesting there is a cultural reason for the abuse.

Using the following as evidence that the abuse could not have occurred:

• a retracted disclosure or a lack of disclosure
• a disclosure that is ‘too fanciful’ or ‘too awful’ to be true
• the child’s connection or attachment to him
• parental separation leading to ‘vindictive allegations’
• his position of authority/responsibility in the community.

Manipulation and coercion of professionals and systems

Professionals who have regular contact with the child, the family and the alleged abuser may be deliberately manipulated and coerced. Without awareness, reflection and supervision, the systemic responses to reports of abuse allegations reflect this manipulation and coercion.

This table provides some reflective prompts to use in personal reflection, supervision or discussions with colleagues or professionals from other agencies such as police, education, early childhood and family support services.