The Dr. Underwager (FMSF) Entrapment & Harassment Technique Statements on Ralph Underwager by the New England Commissioners of Child Welfare Agencies, in �Accuracy of Expert Testimony in Child Sexual Abuse Cases: A Case Study of Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield,� written by Anna C. Salter, Ph.D. The study takes an extremely dim view of the fraudulent child abuse �studies� published by Underwager and Wakefield, and their perennial use if false attributions to support their statements in support of accused pedophiles and child abusers. The following account, excerpted from Dr. Salter�s report, recalls Linda Tripp�s illegal use of recorded telephone conversations as a means of entrapment: �It had been my experience that what children report about child sexual abuse is eventually corroborated by offenders, once they cease denying their offense in treatment. Dr. Underwager�s claim that individuals often falsely admit because of threats by the legal system had not been my experience. Offenders who admitted had in every case been able to provide detailed accounts that went beyond what they knew the child had said. This is in keeping with thee documented low rates of fictitious reports *2% to 8% according to Jones and McGraw, 1987)....� �I offer the following personal anecdotes both the illustrate the difficulties with accuracy in Dr. Underwager�s work and, frankly, as a caution to others whom might work in this area. I attended a conference for criminal defense attorneys in Nashville, Tennessee on December 9 and 10th, 1988 at which Dr. Underwager and Ms. Wakefield were the main speakers. I and several other mental health professionals disagreed with some of the statements made, e.g., that the prevalence of child sexual abuse was under 20%. The mental health professionals expressing concern about his comments were offered 15 minutes to rebut Underwager and Wakefield on the second day of the conference.... �Several weeks later I received a phone call in which a woman said she had heard about me from a friend at the conference and wanted my help. She said her daughter had accused her ex-boyfriend of sexual abuse and Dr. Underwager was testifying for the other side. Would I testify for her? �No,� I said, �I didn�t go around the country testifying in these cases.� She asked who Dr. Underwager was and I made several remarks about the fact that he appeared to always testify on one side of these cases, and commented on my concerns about his scholarship. �A week later I received a transcript of my comments in the mail from Dr. Underwager, a demand that I recant, hints of legal action.... Dr. Underwager admitted to APA that he had a tape of the conversation, which I think it is fair to infer, was not a genuine request for my help. In the recourse of the resultant investigation, Dr. Underwager sent in a statement regarding my comments at the conference.... �The APA ethics committee eventually voted unanimously that the suit was �entirely without merit.� I have since learned that a number of other people have had phone calls which asked their opinion of Dr. Underwager, have found later that the call was recorded without their knowledge or consent, and have been subsequently charged with ethical violations for their comments....� � Alex Constantine
