this reminded me of something said in church this morning - pride affects our memory. the example was:

memory says: I did this.
pride says: I did not do this.
given time, pride will always win over memory and we will convince ourselves (out of pride) that we did not do things that we are ashamed of.

I see this working on both sides of abuse. the victims convince themselves that it did not happen or that maybe it wasn't real or was a dream (at least for a time until they are mature enough to deal with it and process it), and perpetrators seem to truly believe that they didn't do anything wrong. their own memories - whether they have that internal struggle between knowing what they did and denying it or actually having themselves convinced they're innocent - seem jaded by their own pride and they are less and less willing to admit fault as time goes on.

just a thought/observation.