Should Kobe Bryant Submit to Sex Polygraph?

Innovative psycho-physiological testing, a polygraph-type test called the penile plethysmograph, could help Kobe Bryant to prove his innocence. Expert witnesses Dean Tong and Dr. Joseph Plaud, who were featured on ABC's Oct. 16 Primetime Thursday, have successfully used the sex polygraph to vindicate thousands of clients accused of sexual abuse and sexual assault. A press release is attached. This method of sex polygraph testing was shown for the first time on television during the Oct. 16 Primetime Thursday segment. That same test could also be used to help prove Kobe Bryant is incapable of forcible rape and innocent of sexual assault charges. Forensic legal consultant Dean Tong is available for interview or to discuss the sex polygraph testing in greater detail. Please contact Dean directly at 1-800-854-0735 or DeanTong@aol.com to schedule an interview or provide any additional information.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Dean Tong, 1-800-854-0735 or DeanTong@aol.com.

EDITORS: To view a text version of the Primetime Thursday segment on Dean Tong and Dr. Joseph Plaud, please visit: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Primetime/US/mclaughlin031016-1.html

Should Kobe Bryant Submit to Sex Polygraph?

TAMPA, Fla. - A sex polygraph test featured on ABC's Primetime Thursday could be used to clear basketball superstar Kobe Bryant of rape charges, says noted forensic legal consultant and author Dean Tong.

"The Federal Rules of Evidence allow expert scientific testimony in criminal trials," Tong said. "The penile plethysmograph, a polygraph-type test for people facing charges of sex abuse, can be used to show that an individual is not aroused by deviant sexual acts and unlikely to perpetrate sexual molestation or rape."

As expert witnesses, Tong and clinical psychologist Dr. Joseph Plaud have worked with thousands of men and some women accused of sexual abuse and assault. Tong and Plaud were featured in an Oct. 16 Primetime Thursday segment on ABC discussing their work with Bruce McLaughlin, an attorney who was himself falsely accused of sexually abusing his son and twin daughters. Together with McLaughlin's attorney, Alex Levay, Tong and Plaud successfully conducted and introduced psycho-physiological testing that demonstrated McLaughlin's innocence.

During McLaughlin's appeal, a court-appointed psychologist, Stanton Samenow, also cast doubt on the abuse allegations, saying that McLaughlin did not fit the pattern of a parental abuser.

"I have never encountered a case in which a parent has abused both male and female offspring, much less all the kids in his family," Samenow told Primetime Thursday. "I just haven't encountered it. So it would be, to say the least, highly unusual."

Primetime Thursday aired the first-ever live footage of this method of sex polygraph test, conducted on McLaughlin. That testing was used by Levay to prove McLaughlin's innocence in court.

Plaud told Primetime Thursday that guilty defendants cannot "trick" the sex polygraph into giving false results. "For human males, we are hard-wired to react sexually. We're not even aware, a lot of times, of just the limits to which we're reacting sexually," Plaud said.

Tong and Plaud say that Kobe Bryant could use that same method of testing to demonstrate that he is incapable of forcible rape.

"Rape shield laws make it very difficult for attorneys to present an adequate defense of their clients," Tong said. "Instead of innocent until proven guilty, the court then looks for the defense to prove a negative, that the defendant did not commit the crime. The penile plethysmograph provides legally admissible proof of a defendant's innocence."

Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett is expected to rule on whether to hold Bryant over for trial on Monday, Oct. 20. Tong predicted that should Gannett decide against holding Bryant over for trial, prosecutors would immediately seek to reverse the ruling on appeal or seek a grand jury indictment against him.

"The prosecution is prepared to do whatever it takes to put Kobe Bryant in jail," Tong said. "Bryant would be wise to explore all of his options for introducing forensic evidence to clear his name."

-30-

Dean Tong is a nationally known forensic consultant and author of the critically acclaimed book Elusive Innocence (Alpha Publishing, 2002). He may be reached at 1-800-854-0735 or via his website http://www.abuse-excuse.com.