Sadly, in some child custody matters, sexual abuse allegations can arise. One party might allege that the other parent has sexually abused the children or poses a risk of doing so.
In some cases, one party may even be a prior sex offender. In other circumstances, a party may have been accused of sexual abuse, but was acquitted of criminal charges against them. Even if they were acquitted criminally, the other party may still believe the other parent is a risk to the children.
The Components of a Psychosexual Evaluation
A psychosexual evaluation can be critical in cases where one party believes the other parent is a risk to sexually abuse the children. The process is similar to a psychological assessment, except that it is an evaluation of the propensity of someone to commit sexual abuse.
As part of a psychosexual evaluation, a party typically takes scientific tests as one component. The tests can vary, but normally consists of: “[A] personality inventory which consists of a 154-item objective psychological test that is computer-scored and designated to identify psychopathic individuals; a sexual inventory which is a thorough assessment of the client’s sexual history, background, and development; and an intelligence test – or IQ test – which evaluates the client’s intellectual abilities and allows the evaluator to determine whether the client can handle the mental demands of treatment.”
The other component of a psychosexual evaluation is the clinical interview. As part of the clinical interview, the evaluator asks questions about an individual’s background, including family history, education, mental health background, and relationship history. The evaluator typically asks about allegations of prior sexual abuse to gauge the individual’s reaction and response.
An evaluator can also assess an individual’s arousal to a specific stimulus. For example, in male subjects, a penile plethysmograph is a device used to measure changes in blood flow to the penis. In the context of a psychosexual exam, it’s typically used to assess patterns of sexual arousal in males.
How Do Psychosexual Evaluations Impact Child Custody?
The results of a psychosexual evaluation can have a big impact on a child custody case. If the evaluator believes that an individual committed sexual abuse and is a risk to do so in the future, it can cause an individual’s access to their children to be limited. In some instances, it may result in supervised visitation. In other cases, a party may end up with no visitation whatsoever where a child has been victimized to such an extent that seeing their parent would be emotionally harmful.
Where a psychosexual evaluation finds that a parent is at no risk of committing sexual abuse, the opposite can be true. In these instances, a parent receives normal parenting time and access to their children without supervision or limitations. In this way, a psychosexual evaluation can help an individual who has been falsely accused of sexual abuse. Unfortunately, false allegations of abuse can happen in child custody matters where one party attempts to levy untrue allegations to gain an advantage.
Where an evaluator feels it is appropriate, they might recommend therapy and rehabilitation options for an individual who has committed an inappropriate act in the past, provided the evaluator concludes it was an isolated incident that is unlikely to recur. However, where the conduct was repeated and continual, rehabilitation might not be an option in terms of that parent ever receiving unsupervised child custody. Where rehabilitation is not an option, and physical and emotional harm would occur, a party may not be safe to be around the children in an unsupervised manner.
Obviously, the results of a psychosexual evaluation can be somewhat subjective. Different evaluators can come to different conclusions about an individual. Some also critique the testing and clinical phase as not being entirely objective. Individuals may even intentionally withhold critical facts during the clinical phase, which can skew the results.
