Child sex abuse: Little to show

2003-03-26 23:19

Pretoria - In most cases of child sexual abuse there is no definitive medical evidence, an Institute for Security Studies seminar heard on Wednesday.

Susan Kreston, counsel for the United States' National Centre for Justice and the Rule of Law, who has prosecuted in such cases for 16 years, said in about 80% of them medical examinations did not yield evidence showing that a child had been raped or molested.

In less than two percent of cases there was definitive medical evidence of a rape or abuse.

The best source of physical evidence was usually bedding and the child's clothing, Kreston said.

In the US, more and more criminals were videotaping themselves having sex with a child and the tapes could later be used as evidence.

"Ugly enough as it is, technological advances make it easier for the prosecution." Many perpetrators were using condoms now, since DNA evidence was valued highly in the US.

"More and more condoms are retrieved at the scene." Kreston said she had an 80% success rate in prosecuting child abuse cases.

The use of a multi-disciplinary team in such cases helped to push up the conviction rate, which stood at between 10 and 30 percent two to three decades ago.

"Not only does it save money, it also saves children." Such a team included the prosecutor, detectives, social workers, medical and psychological professionals, forensic scientists and victim advocates.

A victim advocate helped the child to understand the court procedure.

The group also included a forensic interviewer, who obtained the child's statement so he or she did not have to speak to various people.

According to Kreston, it is a myth that a child is not as good a witness as an adult.

Don't lie about sexual abuse

"Children lie, but they don't generally lie about child sexual abuse." A child's lies could be broken down by an adult, especially under cross-examination.

Kreston said it was also untrue to say allegations of child sexual abuse were rampant in divorce cases.

There were such claims in only two percent of contested divorce cases in the US, and virtually all of them were validated or substantiated.

She said it was now more generally accepted that the perpetrator should not remain in the family situation. One should rather look at the victim's best interests than at the family's.

"We don't make adult rape victims stay with their rapists, why should we do it to children who are even more defenceless?"

A family where a molester lived was not a family, Kreston said.

"It's a continual criminal enterprise. It's not a home; it's a crime scene." Some 70% of child abusers in a jail survey claimed to have been molested themselves, but in polygraph tests this was reduced to 12%.

If there was only a biochemical reason why people molested children, they could be helped, she said.

"But it is a series of life choices they make." More and more perpetrators claimed there was nothing wrong with having sex with a child, and that children were sexual beings from birth.

"These people can't be helped; therefore the only answer is very strong sentencing." In the state of Louisiana, there was a mandatory death sentence or jail for life, without parole, for those who raped children under 12, Kreston said.

- SAPA