United States v. Dorian

Roxanne, the five-year-old daughter of Ferlin Dorian (defendant), was interviewed by a child-protection case worker after reported suspected sexual abuse by Dorian. Roxanne told the case worker that she felt scared when her father touched her chest but denied that he had touched her elsewhere. A later interview was conducted with a state child-protection supervisor and Monica Whiting, Roxanne’s foster mother, with whom Roxanne had been living for a short period. Roxanne shook her head when asked if her father ever put anything between her legs. In a subsequent interview, Roxanne described to Whiting her father bringing her to a bedroom and undressing himself until her mother intervened. The supervisor asked if her father had ever put anything between Roxanne’s legs, and Roxanne responded that he had put his finger there. Later, using anatomically correct dolls, Roxanne used the dolls to show the doll representing her father undressing Roxanne and positioning himself between Roxanne’s legs. When prompted about what happened next, Roxanne said that her father put his “boy thing” into the hole between her legs. Roxanne confirmed seeing her father ‘s “boy thing” and used the doll to depict her father’s erect penis. Dorian was indicted for rape and incest. At trial, Whiting, the supervisor, and the case worker testified to what had transpired in the interviews and asserted that they had not used leading or suggestive questions. An expert testified that contradictions in a child’s testimony might result from concern over punishment for revealing information and that children often reveal the truth of their experiences only in stages. Other witnesses attested to Roxanne’s display of fear when around men, when a doctor prepared to conduct a vaginal exam, and when told she was going home believing her father would be there. Other evidence included testimony that Dorian washed Roxanne’s underwear, which he had never done before. Roxanne was unable to testify because of fear and age. After being convicted, Dorian appealed, arguing that Whiting should not have been permitted to testify regarding her interviews with Roxanne, because Whiting was not a qualified social worker and had never been involved in interviewing children in similar circumstances. Whiting had attended social-services classes but only one class on interviewing children, and she had limited instruction on using anatomical dolls in such interviews.