Child Sexual Abuse: How to Move to a Balanced and Rational Approach to the Cases Everyone Abhors
Date
2011
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Publisher
American Journal of Trial Advocacy
Abstract
Description
Society as a whole and participants in the criminal justice system have great difficulty dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse in a coherent and consistent fashion. Our social and judicial reactions are erratic. On the one hand, for many years there was a pervasive disbelief that individuals in positions of reverence and respect, such as priests and scout leaders, could possibly harm the children entrusted to their care. Perhaps as a result of the collective guilt caused by disbelieving the true victims of this abuse, in recent years the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction, to an unwavering conviction that a young child is incapable of fabricating a story of abuse, even when the tale of mistreatment is inherently incredible.This article focuses on how prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys and police investigators must all take responsibility for bridging this systemic gap. Each individual can utilize his or her unique role to ensure that proper procedures are followed to protect victims and the wrongly accused. Practical solutions and guidance is offered from the investigation stage through the trial process.
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Keywords
Abuse-sexual, legal, prosecution