Deceptive Words: Started

He Started To …

Hardly a day goes by that someone else in Hollywood or politics isn’t accused of sexual misconduct. Many of the alleged events took place decades ago.

Forensic Statement Analysis, the method I use to determine credibility of written and oral statements, only works if I have the exact, verbatim words used in the statement.

Common Theme

There is a common theme in many of the alleged victim’s statements: they talk about how someone started to do something inappropriate.

Started

When someone says something was “started,” it means the act was interrupted or never completed. “He started putting his hand up my skirt.” A truthful statement would be, “He put his hand up my skirt.” If the act was interrupted or never completed, listen for the rest of the statement that tells why it was interrupted.

In the case of a reported assault, if someone is saying he started to do something, it’s reasonable to then hear the alleged victim say something like “I told him to stop,.” or “I pushed him off,.” or “I was so scared all I could do was…” If there is nothing describing the interruption, it’s likely an untruthful statement, and there is a good chance she is making up the story.

Alleged Victims’ Statements

What do you make of these actual statements made to the media alleging misconduct? In both of these examples the alleged perpetrators deny these actions took place.

“After the dinner was cleared he began encroaching on my side of the seat. [He] started coming over to me and groping me and trying to embrace me. And then his hands started going up my skirt.”

“It then happened almost every show. Six to eight shows a week. I couldn’t speak to him in the moment because I was on a live mic. He kept it up and got more and more aggressive. One night he actually started to stick his fingers inside me. Night after night I went home and cried.

[He] started his grope. I started my batting him away and laughing on cue. Suddenly he grabs the bottom of my slip and pulls it up over my head, exposing my breasts and body to the crew and covering my face.”

Remember, as mentioned above, in the case of a reported assault, if someone is saying he started to do something, it’s reasonable to then hear the alleged victim say something like “I told him to stop,.” or “I pushed him off,.” or “I was so scared all I could do was…” If there is nothing describing the interruption, it’s likely an untruthful statement, and there is a good chance she is making up the story.

Sexual assault must be taken very seriously, but so should false claims. Unfortunately, we’ve recently seen some women claim “me too” to get their 15 minutes of fame. Falsely accusing someone only hurts the real victims and can ruin someone’s life if they did not do what they’re accused of.

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As Managing Director of Concealed Statements I work with men and women who want to increase their deception awareness to avoid wasting time or money and avoid making poor decisions based on inaccurate information.

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