rc week 3
rmstone44
Objective: Analyze how to approach a child victim case versus an adult victim case.
Crimes against children can often be the most difficult ones to investigate for multiple reasons. The criminal investigator is faced with the problem of a victim who often cannot articulate what happened due to being of such a young age; therefore, the criminal investigator will often have to investigate these types of crimes with no witnesses. Investigators must know what signs to look for in shaken baby syndrome and how to talk to medical examiners regarding these types of injuries. They must also be able to recognize burns on a child, the effects of physical abuse, and child exploitation and molestation. Additionally, we are seeing a rise in the occurrences of child pornography which requires specific types of investigation since the dissemination is usually internet related. Lastly, the issues of child abduction and school violence continue to come to the forefront for criminal investigators and so this type of investigation raises different issues at each turn that must be handled
- Find two current articles related to crimes against children and determine how the investigations were handled, evidence found, whether a perpetrator identified and how, whether the case is being prosecuted, was the victim able to assist in the investigation, etc.
- Prepare 1-2 paragraphs with this information for each article.
How do you interview a child whom you suspect is a victim of molestation and/or sexual exploitation? Assume you have a four-year-old boy who you suspect was sexually molested by an uncle. How would you go about trying to interview the child? Would you seek assistance from anybody else? Summarize in 200 words how you would proceed with the investigation.
Using the provided “real-life” child victim case provided as part of the reading materials this week, in 550 words describe the evidence obtained, how to approach the child victim for an interview and the applicable interview questions, who else should be interviewed and for what reason, and any other relevant information from the investigation.
