Description
Her Majesty the Queen v. Stanley Charles Huntingford was a 1995 criminal case based upon "D"’s recovered memory of sexual abuse by her father, Stanley Huntingford, 20-34 years earlier. As summarized by Justice Thackray, “Mr. Huntingford was convicted by a jury on six counts of what is now generally called sexual assault. The charges were brought by three of his five children. Of the three, two had continuous memories of the abuse while the third, D., recovered her memory 34 years after the first assault.” (Her Majesty the Queen v. Stanley Charles Huntingford). “The first woman [with continuous memory] said that her father regularly raped her, but stopped when she was 14 because she screamed when he came into her bedroom. She said she told her mother about the incidents in 1981….The accused’s wife, who testified for the defense, told the jury she never confronted her husband when the first daughter told her in 1981 about the abuse.” (Still)As Justice Thackray explained at sentencing, on March 28, 1995, “The Crown retained the services of Dr. John Yuille. Dr. Yuille is a psychologist and a leading expert in retention and recovery of memory. He also has impressive credentials in the area of sexual abuse. Dr. Yuille interviewed D. and prepared a report….Dr. Yuille therefore gave oral evidence in which he, in my opinion, fairly set forth the opinions of the two opposing camps. Dr. Yuille did not in any way demean the opinion of Dr. Loftus or the opinions of others with whom he parts company on the subject. Rather, he showed an objectivity that allowed both the Crown and the defence to rely upon his evidence and recommend it to the jury.” Id.