What to do if you suspect a child is being abused

Attorney & Legal Analyst Robin Sax shares advice on the best steps to take if you suspect that a child is being abused
What To Do If You Suspect A Child Is Being Abused
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What to do if you suspect a child is being abused

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Parents need to be the eyes and ears, the neighborhood watch, for each other. We must watch out for each other. So if you suspect that something is happening, you don't have to go through the rigmarole in your head and conduct an investigation to decide whether it's true or untrue. Leave that job for the authorities. As parents, all we can do is bring it to the attention of those who have the tools and ability to do something. If you, yourself, don't feel comfortable calling the police, call a mandated reporter, the doctors, social workers, psychologists, teachers, principles; the ones who have a law that requires them to report. Then at least you know that there is going to be some sort of investigation. Kids act out sexually. They do things that are bizarre, some of which are behaviors that you could only do if you knew or had been abused before. For example, I've had cases where I had a two year old orally copulating another two year old. How would a two year old know that's something you would even fathom doing, unless it had been done before. Those are the red flags, things that leave a nagging feeling in your stomach, should warn a parent to report. No one is going to get in trouble if it's unfounded. The best thing you could be doing to protect a kid.

Attorney & Legal Analyst Robin Sax shares advice on the best steps to take if you suspect that a child is being abused

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Robin Sax

Attorney & Legal Analyst

Robin is a legal analyst for Fox11 Los Angeles (KTTV). She appears there daily offering legal insight and analysis as well as parenting and safety expertise.  She also regularly contributes her legal and parenting expertise to The TODAY Show, Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning America, CNN, and HLN. She covers both the unknown and known high profile cases including Conrad Murray, Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Casey Anthony, Jaycee Dugard, OJ Simpson and many more.

Robin is also a former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney and Riverside County Deputy District Attorney who specialized in sex crimes against children. For over 15 years she prosecuted some of the most despicable defendants who committed the most heinous crimes, prosecuting hundreds of felony crimes including homicides, stalking, domestic violence, child sexual assault, and gang crimes. 

She is an author who has penned six books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Criminal Justice System and Predators and Child Molesters:  A Sex Crimes DA Answers 100 of the Most Asked Questions all of which draw on her vast experience as a prosecutor and victim right's advocate. Her powerful insights have regularly graced the pages of The Huffington Post, Psychology Today, People Magazine, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, The Los Angeles Times and the Women in Crime Ink blog.

In addition to advising numerous legal foundations, Robin regularly shares her valuable insight and expertise through speaking and teaching with members of the FBI, Los Angeles Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, and the California District Attorney’s Association. Robin has served as adjunct professor of Women and Crime at Cal State Los Angeles and lecturer on criminal law and the justice system in UCLA’s Paralegal Training Program.

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Transcription: 
Parents need to be the eyes and ears, the neighborhood watch, for each other. We must watch out for each other. So if you suspect that something is happening, you don't have to go through the rigmarole in your head and conduct an investigation to decide whether it's true or untrue. Leave that job for the authorities. As parents, all we can do is bring it to the attention of those who have the tools and ability to do something. If you, yourself, don't feel comfortable calling the police, call a mandated reporter, the doctors, social workers, psychologists, teachers, principles; the ones who have a law that requires them to report. Then at least you know that there is going to be some sort of investigation. Kids act out sexually. They do things that are bizarre, some of which are behaviors that you could only do if you knew or had been abused before. For example, I've had cases where I had a two year old orally copulating another two year old. How would a two year old know that's something you would even fathom doing, unless it had been done before. Those are the red flags, things that leave a nagging feeling in your stomach, should warn a parent to report. No one is going to get in trouble if it's unfounded. The best thing you could be doing to protect a kid.