A variety of studies have shown that this is rarely so. Unfortunately, research studies in this topic have only recently been given the priority that they deserve. It would appear that researchers and clinicians disagree, both about the processes by which children disclose abuse, and about the reliability of their eventual statements. This battle revolves around the credibility of children's testimony, particularly in sexual abuse cases. Child witnesses are depicted by this side as helpless sponges who soak up the interviewer's suggestions and regurgitate them in court.
Little consensus exists among child psychiatrists and other professionals.
One or more innocent adults might find themselves in jail. This has happened in dozens of cases involving allegations of many dozens of adults abusing many hundreds of children. While most adults who have been convicted in the 1980's and early 1990's are having their cases reviewed and are being released from jail, there are still untold numbers of children who are suffering from false memories implanted during interviews and therapy. Some of these have grown up to become severely dysfunctional adults. Hundreds of children were involved with the suspected abuse at the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, CA, during the early 1980's.