Preverbal sexual abuse: what two children report in later years

This paper details two case studies of preverbal abuse in which children later gave detailed accounts of their abuse, indicating that their memories were still intact despite lacking sufficient language to report the abuse when it occurred. A series of issues about preverbal abuse are discussed while integrating cognitive-developmental research about children's early memory: How early can children remember? Does memory change with maturity? What effect does trauma have on memory? What surfaces early memories? What are the long term effects of very early sexual abuse? Implications for practice and prosecution of this early abuse are listed.