An adult survivor of incest wrote:
 

Subject:      Date:      Thu, 28 Jan 1999 14:27:41 -0500     From:      [Name intentionally excised]      To:       <barbaracjohnson@worldnet.att.net>   Ms. Johnson: I am an attorney, and an adult survivor of incest.  I received an email today suggesting that I view your web page. I am embarrassed and ashamed that a colleague would offer for sale the tools by which a parent can obtain the legal right to rape his/her child.   While I am sure you and many others defend such web sites as a service to those falsely accused, you have negligently instructed rapists on how to beat the system.   I agree that false accusations are horrendous, but not nearly as painful or harmful as true accusations being undermined by highly paid attorneys, psychologists and psychiatrists.   Nor do false accusations happen very often - although all those accused seem to make that claim.  The child is the one person in all of this litigation who has the least ability and opportunity to litigate.  The child is the one with the most to lose.  Perhaps if you could concentrate your work on the better treatment of the child in civil and criminal litigation and for higher standards from attorneys and experts, you would thereby put an end to false accusations more quickly.  But, then again, you probably would not be paid as much.  Until the financial incentives for falsely accusing and falsely defending are removed, this problem will not be solved. I have today requested that your state bar provide me with the proper forms to file a complaint against you.   On behalf of raped children everywhere, I implore you to reconsider your methods - first do no harm. [Name redacted] P.O. Box [Number redacted] [Town redacted] GA 30079

Barbara C. Johnson's Response

My Website addresses itself to those falsely accused of sexual abuse or rape of child.  It does not instruct rapists on how to beat the system.  Even if you disagree, you must know as an attorney that everyone is entitled to a legal defense.

What I have done in the site is show the shortcomings of the system.  Backing me up are the decisions of both the Appellate Division and the Supreme Court of New Jersey and an amicus brief by a Committee of Concerned Social Scientists for the case State of New Jersey v. Margaret Kelly Michaels.  The opinions are well written and are deserving of the highest respect.  I have put them in entirety up on my Website.

I am sorry to hear of your tragic experience as a young girl.  I hope you then got or even now get the proper professional help to overcome the trauma of that experience.

I don't know what the system provides in Georgia, but here in Massachusetts, the system provides the child with a guardian ad litem.  The problem is that not all GALs are qualified to do the job.  That is shameful.  Our legislature has not taken the proper safeguards and has not required the setting of certain standards and criteria to be used. That I pointed out on my site.

I would suggest that you visit my site yourself and become familiar with it.  Then you can get back to me with those parts of it to which you object.  We might be able to get a healthy dialogue going.  If you would like, I will give you a guest page to say your piece.  I do want to take care, though, that the site retains its constructive posture.

Each one of us lambasting the other will do nothing to further resolve the tension between our positions: mine, that false allegations are devastating to families, including the children, and are all too frequent, and yours, that false allegations are not as commonplace as some people would have others believe.

I have indeed quite voraciously sought higher standards from the courts as well as attorneys in the conduct of their so-called legal business.  And you are one hundred percent correct, I certainly was not paid for those efforts.

You wrote, "Until the financial incentives for falsely accusing and falsely defending are removed, this problem will not be solved."  There is an entire industry which has grown up around allegations of sexual abuse and child rape.  The industry is pro-conviction all the way and those in it get handsomely and regularly paid.

Afterword