Examining data with one’s own eyes, also known as personal peer review, is essential in certain types of investigations. This approach is especially crucial in the fight against indecent images of children. In a study titled "Tanner Stage 4 Breast Development in Adults: Forensic Implications," the authors explore how different experts perceived the same female nipples.
Numerous websites containing pictures of undressed individuals include a statement declaring that all subjects are over 18. In some legal cases, medical experts would testify about the subjects’ age in these photographs. A new study and previous research demonstrate that these experts can be incorrect on many occasions.
Many experts often claim they use a particular standard, known as The Tanner Stages of Development or The Tanner Scale, to determine the sexual maturity of a female body. This scale was created during the late 1960s by James M. Tanner and WA Marshall at the University of London’s Institute of Child Health. They studied the changes in the appearance of pubic hair and breasts in 192 white British girls as they matured into women.
Dr Arlan L. Rosenbloom and three colleagues from the University of Florida College of Medicine conducted an experiment that relied solely on the Tanner Scale to determine the ages of women in images. They analyzed 547 Playboy magazine centrefold illustrations from December 1953 to December 2007 that featured only one photo of any model. The findings of the study indicate that medical professionals who rely on the Tanner Scale to evaluate such photographs can incorrectly determine that approximately a quarter of the models are below the legal age limit.
In another study published in the International Journal of Legal Medicine, Rosenbloom documents the "high degree of inaccuracy" of medical expert testimony regarding this issue. A more significant problem arises as the Tanner Scale, developed to measure progression through the "apparent" signs of sexual development, fails to determine age accurately. These signs and their ages can differ widely between individuals, which underscores why Tanner created the scale. In 1997, Tanner himself stated that his scales were not designed to estimate chronological age forensically or otherwise. The following year, Tanner and Rosenbloom wrote a letter to the journal Pediatrics warning against the misuse of the Tanner Puberty Stages to estimate chronological age. In response, other doctors wrote letters praising their use of the Tanner Scale and denounced Tanner.
