The "False Memory" Defense:
Using Disinformation and Junk Science in and out of Court

In a civil lawsuit brought by an adult daughter against her father for sexually abusing her when she was a child, the following is an example of a closing argument for the defense:

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you to finally lift this burden off his back, to let him stand tall and proud again. And when you do, realize that you will be helping Roberta, too, because she cannot get better if she keeps pursuing a dream based on a false memory. She needs to know you have seen the truth; she needs to face the truth herself. For it is only the truth that can reunite this family and allow love to return to it. [The lawyer for the defense now pauses for effect.] …. All you need to do to help this family is to reach a verdict for the defendant. When you do, realize that good can come out of this lawsuit. The defendant himself holds no hard feelings toward Roberta for these terrible accusations. He realizes that Roberta has been misguided [by her therapist]. He still loves her. He and Gertrude want their daughter back. So bring in a verdict that can accomplish that-a verdict for the defendant. Help to free Roberta from her terrible confusion that has misled her. Help to show her the truth. [With those final words, the defense attorney looks at the face of each juror and then returns to his seat] (Roseman, Craig & Scott, 1997, p. 454).

This is a typical and perhaps convincing ending of a closing argument in many of these cases. We can see how at least one of the two sides plays upon the other in presenting their evidence for their client. The problem is that even those who have indeed committed child sexual abuse almost universally claim innocence, and they use the same defense as above (Levy, 2000).

Attorneys for accused, convicted or found-responsible child molesters tend to use a superficially sophisticated argument, which can be described as the "false memory defense." This defense is fraught with disinformation, smoke screens, and other untruths that are a distortion of what the available science of the psychology of trauma and memory shows. In this article, this seemingly sophisticated, but actually mostly contrived and often erroneous defense, is described and it is compared in a brief review to what the science says about the effect of trauma on memory.