According to Paul Stuckle an American Attorney "the USA prisons are full of innocent persons”
Public hysteria regarding child molestation has changed the rules of the criminal justice system. Child physical and sexual abuse cases must be defended in an entirely different manner than the normal criminal case. In theory the constitutional rights of the defendant are still in place, however in reality those rights do not apply. The truth is: The accused is presumed to be guilty.
There is merely an appearance of constitutional rights for the accused in a child abuse case. The judge will still inform the jury that it must presume the defendant to be innocent and require the state to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. However in reality, once a false allegation is made, the defendant must both prove himself innocent and that something “did not happen”.
Our criminal justice system states that if the jury has a “reasonable doubt” then it must find the defendant “not guilty”. This theory simply does not apply to child sexual assault cases. The jury must be convinced they are not letting a child molester off and back into the community. The jury must absolutely believe in the innocence of the defendant. The state does not have to prove guilt, but simply make the accusation. Once the accusation is made, the defendant must prove innocence beyond a reasonable doubt. Failing that, the jury will not take a chance the defendant may be a child molester, and will convict.
How Did We Come To This?
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This is long but useful article which will strong echoes for people in the UK falsely accused of sexual abuse.