I am familiar with a situation where a mother was told by her older daughters that they were being molested by the mother’s husband – their stepfather. The mother pretended she never heard it and did nothing to fix the situation. The man eventually molested both of his step-daughters and his biological daughter. So in this case the reaction was denial. As far as distant relatives, I have a great uncle who was accused of molesting his step-daughter. Of course as soon as they heard, the entire immediate and extended family refused to believe it. Personally I towed the family line at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I believed he probably did exactly what he was accused. It made me very sad for that little girl.