Law enforcement, child advocates share expertise in child abuse investigations
By Denis J. O'Malley
Scranton Times Tribune
Published: November 5, 2011
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/law-enforcement-child-advocates-share-expertise-in-child-abuse-investigations-1.1228182#axzz1cqQqK0kx

Lackawanna County Detective Chris Kolcharno had one question for a volunteer stand-in victim at a roundtable on child abuse intervention for law enforcement professionals and children's advocates at Community Medical Center on Friday.

Detective Kolcharno asked the volunteer to describe for the group before him, as if he were testifying in court, his most recent sexual experience in as much detail as possible.

But before the "victim" opened up, the detective came to his point.

"We ask kids to do the same thing we just asked an adult to do, and he got very upset," Detective Kolcharno explained as he began his presentation on the methods that investigators, trauma therapists and forensic interviewers employ when questioning children about an episode of abuse.

Invasive, uncomfortable and painful to revisit, the stories gleaned in such interviews are among the most crucial steps in any investigation into child abuse, Julie Kenniston, a social worker from Ohio specializing in sexual abuse and domestic violence, explained during her presentation.

"The interview itself is part of a bigger process," she said.

On Friday, representatives from law enforcement and social service agencies in 10 Northeast Pennsylvania counties met to discuss the steps officials take to create a "coordinated response" of multidisciplinary teams convened to investigate and prosecute suspects in child abuse cases, said Mary Ann LaPorta, executive director of the Children's Advocacy Center for Lackawanna County.

"A lot of these people used to have to handle child abuse on their own," said Ms. LaPorta, who is also president of the state chapter of Children's Advocacy Centers. "Now it's coordinated."

When a child is brought to a Children's Advocacy Center for a forensic interview, a multidisciplinary team - made up of forensic interviewers, detectives and prosecutors, among others - is assembled so that the child need only tell his or her often-tragic stories once, she said.

"The sanctity of the process rests in the fact that there is one forensic interview, and the child is not retraumatized by 10 to 12 disclosures," Ms. LaPorta said.

The idea is to have all the players in an investigation present to watch an interview so all perspectives can be taken into account to make the interview most complete, said Abbie Newman, director of Mission Kids in Montgomery County.

"All of a sudden they each get to see shades of gray that they wouldn't have seen if they weren't sitting together," she said.

Friday's meeting included representatives from Children's Advocacy Centers ranging in development from the very early stages to the most advanced, such as Lackawanna County's, Ms. LaPorta said, to help them better accomplish the overall goal of forensic interviews that Ms. Kenniston laid out.

"Maximizing information, minimizing impact, for every interview - that's the goal," Ms. Kenniston said.

Contact the writer: domalley@timesshamrock.com