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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.

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