Are Memories of Childhood Sex Abuse Reliable? by Joey Piscelli

By Joey Piscitelli
Voice from the Desert
April 16, 2014

http://reform-network.net/?p=23019

I am going to be speaking on a public panel on behalf of childhood victims of sexual abuse at the San Francisco Justice Summit on April 23, 1014. The panel is debating the fairness of convicting an accused perpetrator based on the mere recollection of the incident by an alleged victim. The panel will be discussing the issue of the reliability of “memories of childhood sexual abuse”. I am opposing the memory experts and defense attorneys who claim that memories of being raped, or sexually abused as a child are not credible. Many of the defense attorneys, memory experts, and support groups for accused sex offenders are stating that alleged victims of rape and sex abuse, especially children, are not able to accurately recall their past – especially a supposed traumatic incident.

Some neurological scientists who study brain activity and memory, claim that the recollection of a repressed memory is totally undependable. They further state that even normal recalled memories of childhood sex abuse, which were not blocked out and repressed, aren’t valid memories either. These experts who defend accused perpetrators state that any memories of childhood experiences are tainted, exaggerated, embellished and imagined, and cannot be relied upon at all to convict an accused offender. They go on to explain that in a case where there is a claim for PTSD, the condition itself will render the memory invalid, because the victim has a damaged brain by virtue of having a traumatic disorder.The memory experts for the defense also state that many alleged victims actually believe their tainted memories, and theses memories are called “false memories”.

I was asked to speak at the conference because I had previously sued the Roman Catholic Church and a priest for child sex abuse in a jury trial in the S. F. Bay Area. The defense for the cleric in that case claimed that my memory was a “false memory”. They stated that my memory was fabricated, and I may have actually believed that my false memories of the sex abuse were real - or I was lying. In the past several years, many highly publicized cases of childhood sex abuse have been brought to the forefront in the media. This has sparked a lot of public debate over the validity of childhood memories, no matter if the memories were constant, recalled, or repressed.

I believe it’s possible for certain people to choose not to believe a victim of child sex abuse because the issue or incident is so horrible that the people are in denial. And in some cases, people do not want to accept that a priest, parent, or person in a position of trust is capable of such betrayal. And in other instances, people do not want to accept the fact that child sex abuse is so rampant – and so close to home. Accepting the “false memory theory” may be a convenient escape for many people.

In my case, the only evidence that my memory was accurate, was my own testimony. Experts testified against me, and it was up to a jury to decide if I was believable – and if my memory was true. An attentive, informed, and very human jury is the best tool a child sex abuse victim could hope for if the victim goes to court. The so called experts are hopefully shoved aside while reality controls the courtroom. The jury, in my case, decided that memories of child sex abuse are reliable. I won my case, but many victims never get the opportunity to realize justice.

Depending on the source, it is estimated that approximately 1 out of 4 girls, and 1 out of 8 boys have been molested by the age of 18. It is also estimated that between 70% to 90% of rape and sex abuse incidents do not get reported to police. The so called “experts” who claim that most if not all accusations of child sex abuse are based on “false memories” only serve to protect perpetrators. If these experts are believed, and they are to be allowed to thrash sex abuse victims in court, the incidence of reporting sex crimes will go down.

This does not serve society well. It does not serve the justice system well. We owe it to our children and our society to change and correct the enabling of sex crimes by unconscionable “experts” who inundate the public with conjured theories of “the false memory epidemic”. There is no epidemic of false memory. But there is an epidemic of sex abuse crimes. We need to take responsibility as a society, and eradicate the sex abuse epidemic, and protect children and the vulnerable – not protect the perpetrators.