Anne Lukas Miller, LSW, forensic interviewer and trainer for CornerHouse defined "bizarre and fantastic elements" as any strange, ill-fitting or improbable claims made by children during sexual abuse disclosures.
During an interview of a seven-year-old female, the child stated that an adult male friend of her parents who had been staying at their house and sleeping on the couch made her "jack him off" on several occasions. At the close of the interview, I mentioned to the child that she had used the words "jack him off" and asked her where she had learned that phrase.
Without blinking an eye she said, "That's what mommy does to the dog."
That wasn't exactly what I had expected her to say. So my response was a choked out, "What?"
"Mommy 'jacks off' the dog."
I knew better than to show my surprise, so my mind quickly tried to rationalize what the child was telling me with some plausible explanation. Up until that point I thought I had a pretty good case. But now I was confused. Did the child misunderstand my question? Had I misunderstood her response? Was there some practical reason for her mother to "jack off" the dog? If so, how did it relate to this case?
Contrary to my own interviewing style, I took it upon myself to interpret what the little girl was saying. I decided that the dog must have been humping her mom's leg and she had used the phrase to describe it. So I asked, "Does the dog jump on mommy's leg and she makes him get down?"
"No, mommy 'jacks him off'. She taught us how to do it, too, in case she's not home."
It was obvious I had lost control of this interview. I needed to get it back but I had no idea where it was going.
At the time, our department had collected stuffed animals to give to children involved in violent or traumatic situations. These animals were piled in the interview room. In the mix I spotted a brown Pound Puppy. I picked it up and handed it to the little girl. "Can you show me what mommy does to the dog?"
The child kicked off her shoe, put the puppy on her leg, placed her toes where the male part would have been and holding the puppy by the head she demonstrated stroking his penis with her toes. As bizarre as the whole thing seemed the child was both spontaneous and consistent with her responses.
Anne Lukas Miller discussed this type of situation in an article entitled, "Bizarre & Fantastic Elements: A Forensic Interviewer's Response, Part III". Miller said, "As bizarre as a child's report may seem, there is always the possibility that he/she is providing an accurate description of his/her experience. Just because information disclosed may conflict with an interviewer's scope of knowledge it should not be categorized as implausible simply because it is unusual or unfamiliar. It may be based in sexual activities, cultural practices, or spiritual beliefs unknown to the interviewer."
In the case described above, Miller was right. During subsequent interviews the perpetrator admitted that he'd had the child "jack him off" on more than one occasion. He qualified his actions by saying, "They 'jack the dog off' all the time, I didn't see it as a big deal."
A local veterinarian said that occasionally dog breeders use this method to collect semen from expensive animals for breeding purposes. However, the child's mother claimed that she did it because the family lived in a trailer and when the dog became hyper it was the best way to calm him down.
When an investigator is faced with a seemingly bizarre disclosure, determining the accuracy of the information is sometimes difficult. Miller said, "While questions about actual fantasy may invite more fantasy, the failure to ask questions may result in missed information or an inaccurate assumption regarding the child's credibility. In my situation, although I stumbled through the interview, had I not have followed-up with asking the child where she'd learned terminology that seemed beyond her age, the case could have had a very different ending."
Investigators need to be able to think beyond their comfort zone. Miller states that while fantastic elements may not be typical in child sexual abuse reports, they occur often enough to be recognized as an issue and frequently the issue is one of credibility. It's important for investigators to keep an open mind when fantastic elements are presented in an interview. There are numerous feasible explanations that could account for such reports. Accordingly, an immediate disbelieving response could be indicative of an interviewer's bias and shut the child down from further disclosure.
For a more in-depth look at understanding improbable and fantastic elements disclosed by victims of sexual abuse, check out "Bizarre & Fantastic Elements: A Forensic Interviewers Response, Part I-III" by Anne Lukas Miller and/or "Understanding Bizarre, Improbable and Fantastic Elements in Children's Accounts of Abuse" by M. Everson.