Anal wink

The anal wink or anocutaneous reflex is the reflexivecontraction of the external anal sphincterupon stroking of the skin around the anus.

The absence of this reflex indicates that there is an interruption of the reflex arc, which may be in the sensory afferentlimb or the motor efferentlimb. The synapsebetween the afferent and efferent limbs occurs in the lowest sacral segments of the spinal cord.

Child abuse controversy

Dr. Bruce Woodlingdeveloped the "anal wink test" which he alleged was an indisputable diagnostic indicator that a child had been sodomised. In a clinical setting, he would spread a child?s buttocks and touch the rectum with a cotton swab. If the anus "winked", Woodling testified, this was "proof of sodomy". His testimony was prominent in the McMartin preschoolchild abuse case — the largest and costliest court case in United Stateshistory.

It has since been established that Woodling never made any effort to validate his test, and it has been utterly discredited.

Woodling's pseudoscientifictestimony contributed to Ray Buckleyspending five years in remand prison. Buckley was later released without conviction.

External link

• Testimony by Dr. Bruce Woodling— Expert testimony in McMartin Child Abuse Case.
• The Satan Sellers— Article about child sexual abuse hysteria, and the "anal wink" test.
• False allegations of child abuse— Expert opinion on false allegations of child abuse, with mention of "anal wink" testimony.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal+wink Wikipedia article Anal wink.