true based solely upon discussion of a patient's recovered memories, without adequate corroborating evidence. A degree of controversy does remain within legal circles, with some holding the view that therapists and courts should consider repressed memories the same as they consider regular memories. Three relevant studies state that repressed memories are "no more and no less accurate than continuous memories." Recovered memory therapy was an issue in the criminal trials of some Catholic priests accused of fondling or sexually assaulting juvenile-turned-adult parishioners. In a 2017 criminal case in Canada, a Nova Scotian clergyman, the Reverend Brent Hawkes, was acquitted in a case involving recovered memories of alleged historical sexual abuse when Justice Alan Tufts described in his ruling that the complainant's method of re-constructing his memory of alleged events after joining a men's group and hearing similar accounts from other "survivors" his evidence could not be reliable. Several court cases awarded multimillion-dollar verdicts against Minnesota psychiatrist Diane Bay Humenansky, who used hypnosis and other suggestive techniques associated with RMT, resulting in accusations by several patients against family members that were later found to be false. In 1999 the Netherlands Board of Prosecutors General formed The National Expert Group on Special Sexual Matters, in Dutch - Landelijke Expertisegroep Bijzondere Zedenzaken (LEBZ). LEBZ consists of a multidisciplinary group of experts of whom investigating police officers and prosecutors are mandated to consult before considering arresting or prosecuting a person accused of sexual crimes involving repressed memories or recovered memory therapy. The LEBZ released a report for the period of 2003 - 2007 stating that 90% of the cases they consulted on were stopped due to their recommendations that the allegations were not based on reliable evidence. See also Amnesia Emotion and memory Gaslighting Memory inhibition Psychological trauma Satanic ritual abuse Spectral evidence References Further reading Ofshe, Richard and Watters, Ethan. Making Monsters: False Memories, Psychotherapy, And Sexual Hysteria. University of California Press; Reprint edition, 1996, . Loftus, Elizabeth and Ketcham, Katherine. The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse. St. Martin's Griffin 1st edition, 1996. Lilienfeld, Scott. "Psychological treatments that cause harm." Perspectives on Psychological Science, Volume 2(1), pp. 53–70, 2007. Pendergrast, Mark, Victims of Memory (1993), External links Answers to questions about recovered memory by the American Psychological Association Memory Psychotherapies Hypnosis Pseudoscience