NCJ Number
94313
Editor(s)
J Bulkley
Date Published
1981
Length
183 pages
Annotation
This book provides a detailed analysis of State laws on child sexual abuse, a discussion of legal and clinical issues related to intra-family child sexual abuse as they pertain to legal action, and a sampling of programs which use the justice system to enforce or enhance treatment of incest offenders, victims, and their families.
Abstract
Part I considers the methodology and general findings of a survey of criminal prosecuting attorneys in every State and the District of Columbia to obtain information on a wide range of prosecutorial issues in child sexual abuse cases. Issues addressed in the survey include vertical prosecution, special prosecution units, charging decisions, differences in handling nonfamily versus intra-family cases, alternative therapeutic dispostions, interdisciplinary coordination, special approaches for dealing with the child victim, and many others. Part II examines in greater depth one issue of particular interest in the survey: the use of pretrial diversion as an alternative form of prosecution with the primary goal of treating the offender and the family. How pretrial diversion is being used in the jurisdictions surveyed is also considered, and one of these pretrial diversion programs is described in detail in Part III. Part III is the core of the report, as it provides detailed descriptions of specific comprehensive and innovative programs for handling intra-family child sexual abuse cases. Most of the programs described provide treatment as a condition of pretrial diversion for offenders or as a postconviction alternative to incarceration. Appendixes contain the survey questionnaire, a list of prosecutors' offices responding to the survey, and an outline for written descriptions of programs for intra-family child sexual abuse for individual chapters. See NCJ 94314 to 21.