It's different when it happens to someone else, if you witness something happening to someone, you empathize with it and a lot of detail becomes muddy as a result. The witnesses mood has a lot to do with that, say the witness is scared, he/she will change the person's details in their mind to follow suit. Might remember the assailant as more menacing or distort the eyes to match what the person is feeling. That sort of thing.
Oh, right. Well, in some cases of child abuse testimonies the children would accuse a cartoon character of abusing them (which is easily dismissed), but then actually it was revealed that the perpetrator would get into a costume of that character. I can't remember the specifics, unfortunately. It's a similar issue. There's also the issue of hallucinogenic drugs being used to warp memories.
Sensitive topic, hurting kids is the most vile thing humans are capable of, sick disgusting behavior.
Goes without saying. It was hard for me to believe that it is not a universally human quality to want to protect children from such horrific experiences, especially your own kin.
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