“Tell me about the time when…”: Nine golden rules for interviewing a child about a multiple offence

Children are required to testifii in many trials that involve acts of sexual abuse that occurred on more than one occasion. In normal legal proceedings, for an alleged offender to be charged and convicted in relation to a repeated offence, a specific occurrence or specific occurrences of the event must be identified with reasonable precision with reference to time and place (see S v R). Remembering a specific occurrence of a repeated offence (as distinct from other occurrences) is a diffrcult task for any witness, especially after a delay in time. One diffrculty is recalling the date of a particular occurrence of an alleged offence. Flowever, even when a particular occurrence can be unambiguously matched to a particular time, the witness may still experience difhculty in remembering the details relating to that specific occurrence ofthe offence. Difhculties in identifying and remembering specific occurrences of a repeated offence are especially profound for child witnesses whose knowledge and understanding of time is not as well developed as that of adults (Bradley, 1947). It is therefore important for officers to be aware of techniques that may maximise the accuracy of children's reports when remembering time of alleged offences. This article offers a brief review of research findings related to this issue and outlines nine recommendations for conducting investigatory interviews with children about a repeated offence. It is important to note that although this article focuses specifically on techniques for interviewing children, many of the principles and recommendations also apply to adults, particularly those with language or intellectual diffrculties.