Since this article came out in May, 2018, I have been swamped from pro bono immigration law firms representing children held in adult custody over claims made by members of the bitemarker bunch the American Board of Forensic Odontology.
These kids are seeking asylum in the US due to being victims of extreme violence and child abuse in their native countries.
As the article says, ICE refuses to discontinue the use of the ABFO published methods and assurances that they can use probability numbers to saying whether tooth roots prove someone being over 18 years of age. They have drummed up a “black box” program that punches out some numbers. It’s algorithm has never been independently vetted, nor replicated, nor had its source code reviewed. Their data-base is based on 1976 data obtained from French-Canadian school kids and a couple articles from the 1980’s. Can you imagine using this population to compare to kids from Somalia, Eritea, South Africa and Indonesia?
The ABFO does.
What a sad commentary on forensic “science” and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences certifying this bunch as “diplomates” and “Fellows” of the AAFS.
