The impact of type of out-of-court disclosure in a child sexual assault trial

This study investigated the impact of type of out-of-court disclosure in a child sexual assault case involving a 6-year-old alleged victim. Community participants read a fictional criminal trial summary of a child sexual assault case in which the alleged victim's out-of-court disclosure of the assault was: (a) complete on two occasions or (b) incomplete at first, but later included the full account of the incident. The results showed that there were more guilty verdicts, higher ratings of the defendant's guilt, and greater belief of the alleged victim when there was full disclosure on two occasions compared to when there was a delay in full disclosure. These results are discussed in terms of the impact the nature of out-of-court disclosure can have when a child testifies in a sexual assault case.