Interviewing and examining a child after molestation

Det. Charles Schlund, LAPD, ICAC Task Force, explains the interview and examination process for a child who has been molested and what can be done to help make it less traumatic for the child
Interviewing and Examining A Child After Molestation
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Interviewing and examining a child after molestation

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Sexual abuse investigators face many challenges when conducting their investigations. Their task with asking very difficult questions to victims who oftentimes wanna forget about the incident entirely and they have to ask these questions in ways that respect the victim's rights and emotional needs at that time. Child abuse investigators face many challenges when conducting their investigations. Their task with asking very difficult questions to child victims who oftentimes wanna forget about the incident and they have to ask these questions in ways that respect their rights and their emotional needs at that time. Obviously, as investigators, we wanna minimize the amount of times that we interview child victims. But, sometimes, it is necessary to just speak with them on more than one occasion. From my own personal experience in investigating these cases, I know that for some children, revelation of this is not simply one incident. For some children, the disclosure process is a gradual process that may take days, weeks and months to actually fully reveal all that occurred during a sexual abuse incident. For me, personally, I prefer to interview a child victim without their parent present. And, I do this because I find that children are oftentimes hesitant to come forward completely with everything that occurred with them if there's a parent in the room. As we know, children are very perceptive and sensitive to their parents. And, if they see that their parents are upset or visibly shaken by their words, they may not fully disclose everything that occurred. With older children, I find that they are more comfortable talking with the professional, like myself, who happens to be a stranger instead of disclosing the abuse to someone that they have to see each and every day and recount the embarrassing details of the terrible encounter.

Det. Charles Schlund, LAPD, ICAC Task Force, explains the interview and examination process for a child who has been molested and what can be done to help make it less traumatic for the child

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Det. Charles Schlund

LAPD ICAC Task Force

Charles Schlund graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with High Honors and Departmental Honors in Philosophy, with a minor in Religious Studies. He is a 13 year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, currently assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). 

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