The failure to acknowledge differences in developmental capabilities leads to unjust outcomes for child witnesses in sexual abuse cases

Abstract

Court records of 58 examples of child sexual abuse testimony were examined for the sensitivity of the court in acknowledging the differing developmental capabilities between child and adult witnesses. Children were frequently asked developmentally inappropriate questions. These questions either exceeded the children's cognitive threshold of comprehension, or failed to respect the fact that children are not responsible for their sexuality by definition of being a child. The Canadian legal system fails justice to the extent that it holds the child responsible for providing accurate testimony, but fails to ensure that procedures are used which recognize the developmental capabilities and the nonsexual status of the child witness.