When will a child be believed? The impact of the victim's age and juror's gender on children's credibility and verdict in a sexual-abuse case

Objective: To provide insight into the central dimensions jurors may use wh en deciding a child victim's credibility and verdict. Method: Participants (N = 573) read a simulated trial (robbery or a sexual- assault case in which the defendant was either a stranger or an acquaintanc e) in which the alleged victim was either a 6- or 13-year-old girl. The tri als were constructed to be as similar as possible with only rninimal differ ences in the child's testimony. The supporting evidence was held constant a cross cases to allow for experimental assessment of the hypotheses. Results: The defendant was more likely to be found guilty in the sexual-ass ault cases than in the robbery case. The child was perceived to be more cre dible, honest, and to have a better memory in the sexual-assault cases comp ared to the robbery case. Perceptions of memory and honesty predicted verdi ct and punishment. The child's age did not impact credibility or verdict. F inally, women, compared to men, perceived the child as more credible. Conclusions: Type of case was a potent factor in jurors' determination of g uilt and the child's credibility. Contrary to expectations, neither the vic tim's age nor the interaction between this and type of case impacted verdic t or credibility measures. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserv ed.