Taking Oral Evidence in Chile from Child Victims in Priority Groups: Challenges for the Practice and Training of Justice Professionals

In Chile, Law 21.057 established in 2019 that, for criminal cases in which there is a child or adolescent victim of a sexual or other serious crime, professionals who take the evidence from the victim during the investigative interview and court testimony are required to be specially trained as interviewers and intermediaries, respectively. Although Chile has been progressively moving into a child-friendly justice system, the expertise and training on how to address victims who have particular communicative, emotional, cultural, or social needs have been rather limited. This study explores the challenges experienced by investigative interviewers and intermediaries with child victims from priority groups, through the lens of their instructors. The term "priority groups" encompasses people who require special protection because of a condition that puts them at a disadvantage. Using purposive sampling, 12 of the most experienced instructors were recruited, and five semi-structured group interviews were conducted remotely. Through thematic data analysis, eight categories of challenges were found. First, the study identified particular difficulties experienced by professionals with six groups of children and adolescents who are here called priority victims or members of priority groups: (1.1) preschool children, (1.2) victims with neurodevelopmental disorders, (1.3) victims with psychiatric disorders, (1.4) reluctant victims, (1.5) Indigenous and migrant victims, and (1.6) victims in complex contexts/crimes. Secondly, the analysis identified cross-cutting challenges for the professionals related to (2.1) difficulties remaining after their initial training, and (2.2) the unavailability of background information about the victims before the proceedings. The article emphasizes the need to strengthen advanced competences and training content regarding priority groups, to reinforce initial skills, and to refine guidelines to assess and address these victims adequately, in order to facilitate their access to justice.

Manifestations of sexual sadism in child sexual assault and the associated victim, offender, and offense characteristics: A latent class analysis

BACKGROUND

Although sadistic child sexual abuse (SCSA) is rare, existing typologies of child sexual abuse have identified the existence of sadistic subtypes in child molestation, as well in the sexual homicide of children. Nonetheless, no study has sought to determine whether there is heterogeneity in the manifestation of sexual sadism between sadistic child abusers.

OBJECTIVE

The present study seeks to examine how SCSA manifests differently between offenders, and whether these differences are associated with specific victim, offender, and offense characteristics.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The current sample includes adult males (N = 101) who were involved in a child sexual assault and scored at least a 4 on the Severe Sexual Sadism Scale (SeSas). All offenses take place in France between 1990 and 2018.

METHODS

Latent class analysis was used to analyze the sample for heterogeneity. Bivariate analyses were conducted to identify external variables associated with each of the latent classes.

RESULTS

Three distinct latent classes were found: the sadistic kidnapper; the sadistic torturer; and the sadistic ritualist. External validity testing also revealed distinctive characteristics associated with each class.

CONCLUSIONS

SCSA involves a heterogenous population with distinctive sadistic behavioral manifestations that vary in severity and relate to differences in crime-commission processes and offender characteristics. These findings offer important insights for crime prevention and correctional practice.

Homicidal child sexual abuse: Identifying the combinations of factors predicting a lethal outcome

BACKGROUND

Research on sexual homicide of child victims is scarce. Studies focusing on the lethal outcome in sexual crimes involving adult victims suggest that those offenders who end up killing their victims present both specific individual and crimecommission process characteristics. Nevertheless, recent studies indicate that findings with adult victims may not adequately explain the lethal outcome in sexual crimes of children.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to identify specific combination of offenders, victims and crime-commission process factors associated with a lethal outcome in child sexual abuse.

PARTICIPANTS

This study compares and analyzes the characteristics of 646 cases of extrafamilial child abuses with 136 cases of sexual homicide involving children.

METHODS

Bivariate analyses and sequential binomial regression analyses were conducted to identify variables associated with crime outcome. Finally, conjunctive analyses were used to identify combinations of factors that are the most likely associated with the lethal outcome.

RESULTS

Results indicate that both offenders and crime-commission process characteristics are strongly associated with sexual homicides of children.

CONCLUSIONS

Offenders who sexually murder children are extremely instrumental and opportunistic. They are also more likely to have a life history characterized by the manifestation of diverse antisocial conducts. The findings of this study provide important theoretical and practical implications for crime investigations, prevention, and offenders' management.

Factors predicting conviction in child stranger rape

BACKGROUND

Public knowledge of child stranger rape is shaped largely by media portrayals of a small number of cases, often marked by sensational trials, which may result in juror misconceptions of this offense. It is important to understand the factors that may influence jury verdicts in order to maximize the chance of guilty defendants being convicted.

OBJECTIVE

The aim is to explore the factors that predict juries' decisions to convict or acquit in child stranger rape cases.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The study utilizes a police database of recorded child stranger rape cases from a UK urban force from 2001-2015. Seventy cases that were tried by jury were analyzed. We investigated the extent to which 19 child-, accused- and offense-related factors predict jury verdicts.

METHODS

A four stage analytic process was employed: (a) Kendall's tau-b measured inter-correlations among the factors; (b) Chi-Square and Welch t-tests measured associations between factors and verdicts; (c) binary logistic regression measured the power of factors in predicting verdicts; and (d) Stein's formula was used to cross-validate the model.

RESULTS

Verdicts were predicted by two offense-related factors. A weapon increased the odds of conviction by 412%. An outdoor location increased the odds by 360%.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings have potential implications for prosecution case building and courtroom policy. Prosecutors could gather as much information as possible from victims about the factors found to be of importance to juries. Judges could challenge incorrect beliefs and stereotypes by instructing juries.

Differences in child sexual abuse cases involving child versus adolescent complainants

While adolescents report the highest rates of sexual abuse victimization, few studies have investigated how child sexual abuse (CSA) cases involving adolescent complainants may differ from cases involving child complainants. The current study draws on 3,430 allegations of CSA in Canada to compare abuse characteristics and judicial outcomes in cases involving adolescent complainants to cases involving child complainants. Adolescent complainants were more likely than child complainants to be abused by a stranger or a person with a community connection to the complainant, while children were more likely than adolescents to be abused by a parent or other relative. Furthermore, compared to child complainants, adolescent complainants were more frequently involved in the most intrusive offenses and their cases were more likely to involve violence. Both groups were most likely to disclose the abuse to a parent, though a greater proportion of children disclosed the abuse to a parent. There were no differences in the delay to disclosure. Accused were equally likely to plead "guilty" and to be convicted in cases involving child and adolescent complainants. However, offenders convicted of the most intrusive offenses received longer probation sentences when the complainant was a child than when the complainant was an adolescent. These findings have implications for ensuring appropriate support and services to adolescent victims of CSA.