To the Editor;
One of us has been involved as an expert in several US federal cases of possession of alleged child pornography, in which seized materials (videos, photographs, computer downloads) were used as evidence against individuals identified in "sting" operations, wherein government agents take over pornographic businesses. In these cases the staging of sexual maturation (Tanner stage) has been used not to stage maturation, but to estimate probable chronological age. This is a wholly illegitimate use of Tanner staging: no equations exist estimating age from stage, and even if they did, the degree of unreliability in the staging the independent variable would introduce large errors into the estimation of age, the dependent variable. Furthermore, the unreliability of the stage rating is increased to an unknown degree by improperly performed staging, that is, not at a clinical examination but through non-standardised and, thus, unsuitable photographs.
Therefore, we wish to caution paediatricians and other physicians to refrain from providing "expert" testimony as to chronological age based on Tanner staging, which was designed for estimating development or physiologic age for medical, educational, and sports purposes, in other words, identifying early and late maturers. The method is appropriate for this, provided chronologic age is known. It is not designed for estimating chronologic age and, therefore, not properly used for this purpose.
Arlan L. Rosenbloom, MD
Department of Pediatrics
University of Florida College of Medicine
Gainsville, FL 32610-0296
James Tanner, MD, PhD
University of London
London, England
Pediatrics (ISSN 0031 4005).
Copyright© 1998 by the American Academy of Paediatrics
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