Note that although polygraph "evidence" may be admissible in the state in question (New Mexico?), that doesn't necessarily mean that a jury would find it convincing, especially if expert testimony on the unreliability of polygraphy were presented.

Although I am not aware of any studies specifically on the abilities of sex offenders to pass the polygraph, in the only available peer-reviewed research on polygraph countermeasures, some 50% of examinees were successful in beating the polygraph after receiving a maximum of 30 minutes of instruction. A criminal preparing to pass a polygraph examination about his crime is likely to devote considerably more time to preparing him- or herself.

A brief explanation of how anyone can beat the polygraph is provided on the AntiPolygraph.org home page and a fuller explanation is available in our e-book, The Lie Behind the Lie Detector.

My condolences to what your daughter (and by extension you) must be going through. My heart goes out to you both.   This situation illustrates the problems polygraphs can cause when relied on as indicators of the truth (whcih they do poorly).  Now your husband (whom for this dicussion I will presume is guilty) is de facto exonerated by the police becase he was able to fool their machine.   

There are many other cases where people are wrongly accused of lieing because of their inability or integrity or naivity in not trying to fool the machine.

In your daughter's case, it seems as if the police are using your ex husbands "passed" polygraph as an excuse not to investigate a case where little or no physical evidence will be found.  That is unfortunate.

The allegations being made here are reprehensible.  From the police's perspective, your husband passed his polygraph.  Therefore he must be innocent.

It is sad, but there probably really are a number of cases where children can be manipulated into making false allegations.  For those accused who truly are innocent and resort in a polygraph to 'prove' their innocence my heart also goes out to.  Those poor folks have an equal chance at 'failing' their polygraph as your husband did at passing his.  Perhaps those truly innocent have an even greater chance at failure since they are probably clueless as to countermeasures.

I hope your daughter remains safe during the holidays.  Please teach her to be strong and assertive.  If she is old enough to use a cell phone you may want to send one with her.

Thank you for your comments.  If I have not clarified previously, I would like to emphasize that I am not the one that made the initial sexual abuse report.  It was made by a dr. due to my daughter's assertions of abuse during the exam.  She received an internal swab exam for the first time and the dr. asked her if she had ever had anything put in her like that before and she said, "Yes, my Daddy's fingers."   

For those that are suspicious, trust me, the last thing I ever wanted to believe was that my estranged husband was capable of such a thing.  There is plenmty of evidence from her therapy, prior too her outcry, and afterwards that acts as supporting evidence to her claim.  In addition to this fact, her father has received training through the military on how to handle interrogations.   

Also, I must add that I do understand that the police have to be able to have adequate evidence.  So I must tell you that we were int he state where the crime occurred and I talked with the detective working my daughter's case.  I offered to have her interview my daughter (whom she had never met or talked to) and she declined.  They insinuated that the taped interview was leading, which was prepostrous.  I watched the tape and the interviewer asked her first thing if she knew why she was there to talk with them and she said, "Because my daddy did things to hurt me."  However, I requested that they do another forensic nterview while we were in the state, but the detective (who must request it for it to be done) refused to do this.  So, you tell me if they honestly are looking for evidence or if they have made up their minds without really looking for it.  If they wanted to they could have requested her medical records, where they would have seen that she was taken in for numerous drs. appts for unexplained itching and redness.  She was never determined to have a yeast infection or a UTI, etc.  I just missed the signs at the time as to what was happening to her.  The problem is that the police are basing the validity of this case solely on the results of a polygraph.  I fully understand that my husband can be a charming, convincing, seemingly wonderful guy.  After all, I married him.  Do they honestly think I would have married someone I thought was capable of violent and disturbing behavior???

It is extremely frustrating.  Through my search for information on this subject I have found that most states are now relying on polygraph tests to monitor convicted sex offenders on parole.  How scary is that??

I find people's attitude towards the victims of domestic violence very frustrating.  You are often put into a position of having to defend yourself.  The "why didn't you leave?" or "why didn't you report it?" and then the "Did you document the dates when the abuse occurred?"

So, the answer to #1 is we were afraid to leave.  Statistically, most women that are killed due to domestic violence are not killed while they are living with the abuser.  Most of them are killed after they have separated from the abuser and tried to free themselves from the abuse they suffered.  #2 We don't report for many reasons, but primary it is because of a sense of love and loyalty towards our abuser.  Like the Nazis did to the POWs, it is very hard when an abuser isn't torturing you 24/7.  A lot of the time he can be such a charming and wonderful person.  During the "honeymoon phase" he is the ideal man...the man you married.  #3  We don't document because we do not want to believe it will happen again.  Each episode is going to be the last time.  Why would you want to keep a record of the worst moments in your life.  You would rather forget about them and let yourself believe that it is not going to happen again.  But then again you have the problem of people believing him when you do come forward with the truth of the abuse adn treating you like a vindictive ex trying to taint this wonderful man's reputation (because again most abusers statistically do not show abusive behavior outside the home).   

As to sexual abuse, if I had discovered it while residing with him in the home, people would have interrogated me as to why I didn't see it sooner  and surely I must have known something.  Then I am in the predicament since I did see that this man was unhealthy for my children and myself to be around and fled, but did not find out about the sexual abuse until after we had been far away for a long enough period of time for my child to feel safe...the validity of the truth is questioned because we are separated.  Therefore, since we are separated then it must be that I put my daughter up to the allegations to try to exact revenge on my ex.

It is a no win situation.

Jeffery wrote on Dec 16^th, 2004 at 2:15am:




I really have a problem with this statement.  As a LE officer for anyone to say that we are not doing our jobs.  First, I repeat without any PHYSICAL evidence there is nothing that can be done.  Second, the polygraph is merely a tool used to "assist" us when all other means are exhausted.  Third, simply because he passed the poly doesn't mean that he was deemed innocent, it simply means that there is NO PROOF!

Short of an admission there is nothing that can be done in the absence of concrete evidence.   

Once again, I truly am sorry for anyone who is a victim of abuse, but in the system we live in we do our best with what we have.  The idea of a child molester being let go is bothersome to all of us, but Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.  If we can't prove him guilty then there is nothing we can do.

Quote:

And if he had "failed" the poly would there then have been proof?  Would he then be deemed guilty?

Thanks for all of the comments.  Especially those of support and information.  This is a most frustrating time for me and I am finding that although the polygraph has been scientifically disproven, it is still heavily relied upon by law enforcement.  It is senseless.

dimas,

I think my comparison to the Navy case was indeed apt. It wasn't my intention to compare the relative strength of the unexploited investigative leads available in these two cases. (In the Navy case, it is pretty clear that the polygraph was used as a pretext for prematurely closing an investigation, and I'm not arguing that this is necessarily the case here.) Rather, it was my purpose to point out that in both cases, the polygraph was relied on before all other investigative means were exhausted. The legal protections enjoyed by those who are subject to military law versus those who are not is irrelevant to this point. You had suggested that the polygraph is used only as a tool of last resort. I think it's clear that this is not always the case.

The reason I believe it would have been appropriate for investigators to conduct a new interview with the alleged victim is that they had expressed dissatisfaction with the way the taped interview was conducted. According to savemydaughter, "[t]hey insinuated that the taped interview was leading." 

The reason I believe a review of the alleged victim's medical file could have been helpful is that it might have confirmed whether or not the daughter's symptoms were consistent with the allegation of digital penetration. Did these symptoms ever occur at times when the father was away from home? (As a member of the armed forces, he may have had periods of temporary duty at other locations.)

I am not suggesting that information gleaned from the above two investigative steps alone would or could have produced enough evidence to bring charges. But it seems to me that such information might have advanced the investigation and could have been useful in planning the polygraph interrogation of the alleged perpetrator.

Looking forward, if this alleged sexual abuse were to recur over the holidays, what advice would you give to savemydaughter? What sort of physical evidence might there be? What steps could the mother and daughter take to preserve it?