Medicolegal approach of the criteria-based content analysis in child sexual abused cases

In cases of child sexual abuse, the only evidence we have is the child's statement in cases where most of the physical evidences indicative of sexual abuse cannot be detected. Statement Validity Analysis is one of the methods aimed at demonstrating the reliability of the child's statement. In our study; It is aimed to determine whether Criterion-Based Content Analysis, which is the cornerstone of Statement Validity Analysis, is applicable to the stories taken from children who are alleged to have been sexually abused. Our sampling in our study; consists of 111 children who were sent to Mersin University Medical Faculty Hospital Forensic Medicine Department polyclinic between 15.01.2022 and 30.10.2022 by the judicial authorities with the allegation that they were sexually abused. In our prospective and cross-sectional study, the evaluation results of the children's histories with Criterion-Based Content Analysis were compared with the children's forensic medical and forensic psychiatric examination findings. In our study; It was concluded that Criterion-Based Content Analysis has a statistically significant relationship with forensic psychiatric examination findings without findings in physical examination, anogenital examination, laboratory tests, and it can be used with high accuracy and specificity in all children aged 7 years and above, in both genders.