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Child Abuse Cases and Power of Suggestion

BY M.L. Elrick
October 07, 2003

After spending 4 years in prison for allegedly sexually abusing his children, a Leesburg, VA, attorney was recently acquitted of the charges in what may be Virginia's first case in which the susceptibility of children to suggestion played a major role.


Bruce McLaughlin, 50, was convicted in 1998 on seven counts of sexually abusing three of his four children, who were then between the ages of 7 and 12. State v. McLaughlin, No. CR 11592. The charges were brought 1 month before McLaughlin and his wife began divorce and custody proceedings, said his attorney, Alex Levay of Moyes & Levay.


McLaughlin, who admitted to having an affair, had been living apart from his family for about 18 months before the charges were brought, providing plenty of time for the children to be convinced they had been abused, Levay alleged. After McLaughlin was convicted, a Loudoun County, VA, circuit court judge sentenced him to 13 years in prison.

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