To assist investigators and prosecutors, APRI's National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse—the nation's premiere trainer of child abuse prosecutors and investigators—presents the Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse, Third Edition. Readers of this manual will receive practical, common sense assistance in handling child abuse cases from the initial report to the closing argument at trial. Appendices on the enclosed CD-ROM include hundreds of sample motions and other legal documents that can be adapted to the jurisdiction of individual readers. Now in its Third Edition, the manual contains the latest in case law and research on nearly every facet of child sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect. This is the only book on the market specifically geared to investigators and prosecutors called upon to handle abuse cases.
In the 1980s, a series of child sex abuse cases rocked the United States. The most famous case was the 1984 McMartin preschool case, but there were a number of others as well. By the latter part of the decade, the assumption was widespread that child sex abuse had become a serious problem in America. Yet within a few years, the concern about it died down considerably. The failure to convict anyone in the McMartin case and a widely publicized appellate decision in New Jersey that freed an accused molester had turned the dominant narrative on its head. In the early 1990s, a new narrative with remarkable staying power emerged: the child sex abuse cases were symptomatic of a 'moral panic' that had produced a witch hunt. A central claim in this new witch hunt narrative was that the children who testified were not reliable and easily swayed by prosecutorial suggestion. In time, the notion that child sex abuse was a product of sensationalized over-reporting and far less endemic than originally thought became the new common sense. But did the new witch hunt narrative accurately represent reality? As Ross Cheit demonstrates in his exhaustive account of child sex abuse cases in the past two and a half decades, purveyors of the witch hunt narrative never did the hard work of examining court records in the many cases that reached the courts throughout the nation. Instead, they treated a couple of cases as representative and concluded that the issue was blown far out of proportion. Drawing on years of research into cases in a number of states, Cheit shows that the issue had not been blown out of proportion at all. In fact, child sex abuse convictions were regular occurrences, and the crime occurred far more frequently than conventional wisdom would have us believe. Cheit's aim is not to simply prove the narrative wrong, however. He also shows how a narrative based on empirically thin evidence became a theory with real social force, and how that theory stood at odds with a far more grim reality. The belief that the charge of child sex abuse was typically a hoax also left us unprepared to deal with the far greater scandal of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church, which, incidentally, has served to substantiate Cheit's thesis about the pervasiveness of the problem. In sum, The Witch-Hunt Narrative is a magisterial and empirically powerful account of the social dynamics that led to the denial of widespread human tragedy.
The sexual abuse of children and teens by rogue priests in the U.S. Catholic Church is a heinous crime, and those who pray for a religious community as its ministers, priests and rabbis should never tolerate those who prey on that community. The legal disputes of recent years have produced many scandalous headlines and fuelled public discussion about the sexual abuse crisis within the clergy, a crisis that has cost the U.S. Catholic Church over $3 billion. In The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis and the Legal Responses, two eminent experts, James O'Reilly and Margaret Chalmers, draw on the lessons of recent years to discern the interplay between civil damages law and global church-based canon law. In some countries civil and canon law, although autonomous systems of law, both form part of the church's legal duties. In the United States, freedom of religion issues have complicated how the state adjudicates both cases of abuse and who can be held responsible for clerical oversight. This book examines questions of civil and criminal liability, issues of respondeat superior and oversight, issues with statutes of limitations and dealing with allegations that occurred decades ago, and how the Church's internal judicial processes interact or clash with the civil pursuit of these cases.
St. Mary County is a small rural midwestern enclave with a unique approach to handling accusations of child sexual abuse. Hoping to spare children the trauma of lengthy court appearances and probing interrogations, St. Mary's professionals strive to obtain confessions from accused sex offenders rather than ask the victim to bear the burden of proof. Treating this county as a critical case study, scholars from a variety of fields come together to analyze this community's unique approach. They address relevant case law, innovative treatments for both victim and offender, and the social history of child sexual abuse as a national policy concern. They cover legal burdens and scientific methods, prosecutors and protocol, the interrogation of victims and suspects, the use of expert witnesses, defense strategies, and practice wisdom in videotaping. In addition, they examine the unfolding drama of a single legal case from incidence to conviction. The result is a fascinating dialogue that confronts the unique complexities of child sexual abuse for readers on all sides of the issue. Introducing a model that makes enormous headway in the pursuit of justice, fairness, and trauma treatment, this interdisciplinary text is an indispensible tool for all communities seeking redress.
Reviews new research on the consequences of child sexual abuse, the capabilities of children as witnesses, and the impact of the court process on child victims. Also analyzes pertinent statutes and case law. 16 charts and tables.
This volume provides the first rigorous assessment of the research relating to the disclosure of childhood sexual abuse, along with the practical and policy implications of the findings. Leading researchers and practitioners from diverse and international backgrounds offer critical commentary on these previously unpublished findings gathered from b
Prosecuted But Not Silenced is a powerful documentary about a mother and daughter's tragic involvement with the judicial system when there were allegations of child sexual abuse—a human rights and civil rights issue for women and children. It is an important educational tool for judges, lawyers, social workers, therapists, politicians, and the general public so that people realize what still occurs today. A National Health Crisis, Maralee’s story reveals the last taboo and a crime that needs the public's attention, and emphasizes the need for training in the dynamics of maltreatment so that no more mothers have to suffer what happened to Maralee and her daughter.
There is also considerable age discrimination; teenage victims fare far worse in the courts than do younger children. Minority defendants are more likely to be convicted. In addition, there is little consistency in how different counties treat these cases. In some, a case is likely to last just over a month, while in others it can drag on for almost a year. In some locations, a case may be diverted to psychological treatment and away from prosecution; in other locations, that option does not exist. Unequal Justice is must reading for those invovled in child sexual abuse cases. The book will be of interest to social workers who handle these cases at the "front end" but don't always know their outcome once they leave the child welfare system and enter the very different legal system. The book will also be of interest to members of the law profession who want a better understanding of how the system operates outside their jurisdiction.
