Child Rape and Sexual Exploitation

Abdirahim M Muhumed

Liberty University

Professor: Douglas Orr

Course CJUS542

Date Sunday, 08/15/2021

Abstract

A rape case might be defined in many ways, with the common factor being the lack of consent from the alleged victim. The use of force may allege charges associated with a rape case, the alleged inability of the victim to give consent due to mental or physical conditions or the defendant’s abuse of a position of authority or power over the alleged victim (Barr, 2018). Therefore, a child’s rape incorporates the victim’s age that cannot depend on themselves during the process due to unavoidable circumstances such as being threatened or being raped at gunpoint. It’s It is a hectic task defending against the rape of a child since the law presumes that the correspondent must prove the factual matters related to the rape case; therefore, the law and the state might prevent the defendant from raising certain defenses.

Child Rape and Sexual Exploitation

INTRODUCTION

Any prosecution that results in coincides of rape, the state or the law must prove that the alleged victim and the defendant had sexual intercourse that includes any penetration to the victim’s private part. Subsequently, the law or the state must also prove if the victim gave consent to the act based on the victim’s age or the victim’s physical and mental conditions that might render the alleged victim legally incapable of giving consent (Davidson, 2017). The law prohibits lame excuses from the defendant, such as the defendant claiming not to know the victim’s age or reasonable belief that the victim was older. First-degree rape of a child and sexual exploitation of a minor is a class A felony in which the defendant can be subjected to life imprisonment. The law defines the first-degree rape of a minor as the alleged sexual intercourse with a victim under the age of twelve and the victim to be at least two years older. In this case, our defendant, Randall M. Peterson is alleged to have committed a first-degree felony by raping a child aged 10.

Legal issues

It might be hard difficult to discover if a child is sexually assaulted since they might not open up and explain the whole process due to fear. Therefore, parents are always advised to spend more time with their kids to detect any issue affecting them. As a parent or a guardian, if a minor is sexually assaulted, do not wash or douche her but instead call the police or report the incident, then take the child to the hospital (High, 2016). There are two categories of rape: Acute rapes (these happen within the last 72 hours) and non-acute rapes (these happen within more than 72 hours). In this case, when the victims’ mother found out that her child has been raped, she called the police direct and reported the matter before taking the child to an emergency room.

Before the examination, a trained doctor interrogated the victim who in turn explaining what had happened and what the person did to her. This conversation directed the doctor to fully examine the child by doing a thorough physical exam, including the pelvic exam, to determine the injury’s extent. After that, the doctor made a special note of any cuts, bruises, or other significant injuries, especially in the genital area. Consequently, the doctor checked for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and gave his verdict concerning the extent of the rape case. Talking to the trained listener helped the child release some emotions that might make her fall into depression or stigmatization and make her feel calm and safe again.

Seeking medical attention is required to ensure your child is healthy and safe and to provide documentation to incriminate the defendant (Miller, 2017). To collect potential evidence from implicating the defendant, the doctor found some patches of torn clothing, blood, and strands of the defendant’s hair on the victim’s body. He tested them against the body fluids and skin samples from the suspects, and they found a piece of matching evidence from our defendant Randall M. Peterson. The incriminating evidence that might make our client be sentenced is that the court might assume that the critical pre-abuse factors might expose the child to develop serious problems of psychological concerns and anxiety problems (Barr, 2018). Consequently, considering the child was a minor, the court might make a harsh decision since the process might impact other aspects of the victim’s life, making the kid depressed and more anxious.

Victims of rape might avoid seeking help because they are afraid to talk about the scenario. After all, it brings terrible and painful memories to them. Therefore, as a parent of a child who has been sexually assaulted, you should always talk to your child and engage in some physical activities that might make them forget about the incident. Some parents might feel responsible for such acts since they could not help their children. As a result, that they might end up being depressed and hating themselves. If that happens, the parent and the victim are advised to seek counseling sessions which will make them overcome their fears (Tsai et al., 2017). Parents are advised to educate themselves against anger, guilt, and fear and act more precisely towards supporting their children and giving them moral support. The impact of trauma on children who have been raped depends entirely on how adults respond to the incident.

Policy issues

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) has become a global issue since most children aged 12 and below are subjected to first-degree rape and sexual harassment from older people. As a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the child’s Rights, most nations are mandated to ensure that children’s rights are protected from sexual abuse through sound laws and policies. The sexual abusers should be subjected to harsh penalties and sentences, while the victims should be subjected to free legal and medical services (Barret, 2017). Consequently, these policies are designed to educate the prosecutors on what actions to take while dealing with child sexual abuse cases. Child sexual abuse encompasses a range of offending behavior in which prosecutors are obliged to familiarize themselves with the alleged evidence as this will help them build their relevant lines of inquiry.

Victims and witnesses are supposed to be informed and offered support on what is expected from them in terms of attending the court and giving viable shreds of evidence that might be used to incriminate the defendant. The victim and the witness need to be given support before, during, and after the court proceedings since that will keep them on track to avoid unnecessary diversion and time wastage (Barr, 2018). Since the victim and witnesses might include children and young people, it is essential to explain the court proceeding to them during and after the trial in age-appropriate terms to understand the context of the court proceedings. The police are responsible for providing a high level of support to the victim and witnesses, although they would not be responsible for providing emotional and psychological support.

The prosecutor plays a vital part since he is also responsible for ensuring the requisite support is provided by asking meaningful questions that will not offend the victim or the witnesses. The victim and the witnesses must be informed earlier about attending the court proceedings with their parents and guardians’ consent to prevent any fears that can arise during the preceding or being seen entering the court building by the defendants and their associates. Consequently, since we are dealing with minors, legal arrangements should be made to allow the victim and the witnesses to visit the court before the court proceeding to be familiarized with the venue and the process involved (Barret, 2017). With the approval of the court, the victim and the witnesses are supposed to have a supporter who will help them during the process of cross-examination in a live link room to support them emotionally. This is to help them reduce fear, anxiety, and distress to improve their accuracy during the recalling process.

The Youth Justice and the Criminal Evidence Act 1999, as amended by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, stipulates that “when making the direction of a live link and after taking into account the views of the witness, the court can accompany the person when giving evidence by live link” (Miller, 2015). The person mandated with such a task can be a volunteer from victim support, witness service, or more specialized support services such as the NSPCC or an ISVA. While in court, the support staff should ensure a distance between the victim, witnesses and the defendant. Consequently, the prosecutors should recall help from the Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVA) who are experts in providing emotional support to the victims of sexual harassment and advising them on the best way of winning a case proceeding. ISVA is an independent body from the police and are distinct from therapists, counselors, and registered intermediaries. Even though the primary role of ISVA is to make sure the victims of rape have the best practical advice, some of their functions include; Comment by Douglas Orr: All quotes require page or paragraph numbers.

· Counseling the victim and other services available to them.

· Reporting any sexual harassment or rape cases to the police

· Taking their case through the criminal justice process, they should choose to.

The code of practice for victims of crime states that “the minimum standards of service and aims should ensure that victims who have been subjected to rape or sexual harassment should be provided with timely and accurate information about their cases at all stages of the criminal justice process” (High, 2016). Therefore, as a result of this, prosecutors should be aware of these obligations and abide by them fully. Those cord of practice also, stipulate that ” the nature and sensitivity of child sexual abuse cases will inevitably mean that prosecutors (and the police) should go beyond the minimum requirements of the victim’s code where appropriate to do so, and this should be agreed upon, recorded, and auctioned by the prosecutor and the police in the case” (High, 2016). As a result, the prosecutors have a duty to report if the victim has undergone successful therapy or counseling and disclose any other arising issue that may hinder the court proceedings. Comment by Douglas Orr: Comment by Douglas Orr: All quotes require page or paragraph numbers.

Technical (forensic) issues

Genetic technologies support criminal investigations while also holding a highly valuable potential for producing evidence to be used in courts. In criminal proceedings, DNA technologies are usually used in criminal investigations and then turned into DNA evidence, usually used by a court to impersonating criminals. Apart from fingerprints, forensic science took a milestone upon adopting the DNA since it has transformed the whole process as individuals are usually identified with DNA analysis. Several authors have even designated DNA analysis as the most effective modern era identification the world has ever seen (Barr, 2018). Each individual has different and unique DNA chemical sequences that produce “genetic fingerprints”. “Genetic fingerprints” comparison enables the DNA analyst to substantiate and differentiate samples collected from different individuals. There exists a comparison between genetic profiles extracted from biological samples collected from objects and sites. DNA samples contain biological substances such as blood, hair, semen. To determine the DNA sample of a suspect, the DNA analyst can get his DNA from the hair, through the mouth smear, blood samples, or scraping any body part to get a sample of the skin.

General inspection

Before investigating the crime scene, the investigators gathered much information pertaining to the crime scene to prevent any destruction or loss of viable evidence such as footprint and fingerprint that could be used to incriminate the perpetrator. The main area that they focused on was the floor, rugs, beddings, and trash receptacles where the aggressor could have discarded during cleaning, such as condoms. Some evidence could be observed through the process of observation, such as rags, but some shreds of evidence need some forensic light source for detection, such as blood and semen due to their natural characteristics. Consequently, forensic scientists used some devices such as the Bluster to detect washed bloodstains. They also used magnifying glasses to observe fibers, if any. They also used the vacuum machine to retain material in filters that could be used as pieces of evidence.

Recovery of evidence from the crime scene

During a crime scene investigation, the forensic scientist is obliged to identify and recover biological evidence that may guide him if there was any sexual intercourse and the perpetrator’s identity. Forensic scientists use some specific technologies and techniques in order to find evidence from otherwise could go unnoticed. The main reason for using these tools and techniques is because they allow forensic scientists to make meaningful decisions and utilize presumptive or confirmatory methods to recover and forward evidence to specialized laboratories (Miller, 2015). In our case, the forensic scientist found some patches of torn clothing, blood, and strands of the defendant’s hair on the victim’s body. He tested them against the body fluids and skin samples from the suspects, and they found a piece of matching evidence from our defendant Randall M. Peterson. These results were accurate since the forensic scientists used microscopic techniques and genetic fluorescence hybridization while selecting and isolating the samples collected on a cellular level, thus increasing the possibility of obtaining a genetic profile that identified our perpetrator.

Consequently, forensic scientists are always advised to any possible source of BE left on the victim or at the crime scene during the investigation, such as condoms, body fluids, cigarettes butts, and hair. That evidence that can be transported is usually sent to the laboratory for further inspection, whereas those that cannot be transported are usually passed gently through a lightly moistened swab and rotated through in the same swab to recover the BE (High, 2016). In addition, those wet evidence are always dried to avoid them being damaged or prevent the growth of micro-organisms that might cause degradation of the DNA. Different swabs take different shapes, designs, and sizes used for evidence recovery; they include the X-Swab Diomics Corporation and Copan Swab.

Recovery of evidence on victim and perpetrator

When a sexual assault is reported, the authorities order a medical interview and examination in order to recover the evidence and incriminate the perpetrator. As for our case, when the authorities were interviewing the victim, they documented the type of sexual aggression by indicating that it was penile-vaginal rape with the exploitation of a minor without considering the age difference. Consequently, they documented the time that had elapsed after the incident, indicating the type of sampling to be collected. Additionally, the examiners were interested in finding some elements of aggression such as bites and body fluids, as this could be obtained from the anatomical regions that show signs of injury or attack..

Recommendations

Sexual assault that involves minors is a common and very serious crime punishable by law; therefore, those perpetrators who are found guilty of assaulting a minor should face severe punishment. Rape can have a devastating and disturbing psychological consequence on culminating victims, with some of its associated symptoms being flashbacks, trauma, anxiety, anger, shame, denial, and behavioral change. Therefore, parents are advised to be close to their children and be part of their lives to guide them and counsel them effectively. Some of the ways that can help prevent cases of rape are;

· Children should walk in pairs

· Children should travel in well-lit and well-traveled areas

· Children should plan their route ahead of time

· Children should avoid shortcuts, bushy areas and alleyways

· Parents should instruct their children in safe doors and techniques of using telephones

· Parents should teach their children self-defense mechanisms such as whistling, screaming, and even shrill alarming

References

Barr, E. (2018). Victim or Perpetrator: The Unconstitutionality of the Massachusetts Statutory Rape Law. New Eng. L. Rev., 53, 105.

Barrett, D. (2017). Applying a Contingency Framework to Digital Forensic Processes in Cloud Based Acquisitions. Journal of Digital FoArensics, Security and Law, 12(2), 9.

Davidson, C. (2017). Rape in context: Lessons for the United States from the international criminal court. Cardozo L. Rev., 39, 1191.

High, A. (2016). Good, bad, and wrongful juvenile sex: rethinking the use of statutory rape laws against the protected class. Ark. L. Rev., 69, 787.

Miller, T. M. (2015). Digital border searches after Riley v. California. Wash. L. Rev., 90, 1943.

Tsai, S. L., Acosta, E., Cardenas, T., Sigall, J. K., & Van Geem, K. (2017). Legal, social, ethical, and medical perspectives on the care of the statutory rape adolescent in the emergency department. Annals of emergency medicine, 70(1), 72-79.

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